


Fire in Our Hearts

by thearchangelofsass



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Biological Warfare, But Everyone grows as a team, Canon Compliant, Eventual Happy Ending, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Kat makes up Altean Shit, Klance Centric Arc, M/M, Minor Character Death, Minor Violence, OCs for plot - Freeform, Post s2 finale, Quintessence Shenanigans, Serious Injuries, Shatt if you squint, Slow Burn, bkg Hunay, blood tw, broganes, there is angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-09
Updated: 2017-08-02
Packaged: 2018-09-21 17:38:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 69,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9559889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thearchangelofsass/pseuds/thearchangelofsass
Summary: There are shapes raining down from above him, and it takes Lance a second to realize that it’s them. It’s the lions, free falling from an unknown height, with their paladins following suit....Shiro has disappeared and Team Voltron is reeling in the aftermath. Keith is just trying to be the leader Shiro asked him to be and Lance is having strange visions that might not be visions at all? And on top of that, the paladins are hearing rumors that an old Galran foe has resurfaced to join forces with Haggar. Will the paladins come together in this time of need? Or are they doomed to fall apart?





	1. A Rift

**Author's Note:**

> This is essentially my take on what could happen after the season 2 finale. There will be shenanigans, a return to the Balmera, more bonding moments, and who knows what else. I'm gonna try to update regularly so buckle up, y'all.

            “He’s gone?” Keith’s face is slack with disbelief. All he can think is _no_ continuously as he looks around the cockpit, desperately hoping that Shiro is just hiding behind one of the control panels. Unsurprisingly, his search produces nothing and Keith groans, kicking the black lion in frustration. Other people are talking around him, but Keith only hears their voices as if he’s underwater, drowning at the bottom of an ocean of anxiety and fear. Keith feels the same sickening twist in his chest that he felt at the Blade of Marmora base, when he saw Shiro walk into the light. It was like all the air had rushed out of his lungs and his heart was struggling to keep him alive. He’d never thought his brother would leave him. And yet the cockpit of the black lion is empty, and Keith’s heart hardens with the all too familiar sense of abandonment.

            “Keith?” Allura’s voice wavers as she says his name and Keith turns around to see everyone staring at him worriedly. Allura reaches out a hand, as if to embrace him, but Keith brushes past her roughly, already feeling his eyes starting to fill with water.

            “I need some air.” Keith doesn’t look back over his shoulder, his steps echoing across the floor as he goes. Lance stares after Keith for a moment before looking back at his teammates. No one is saying anything right now, probably because it feels wrong, almost inappropriate to disturb the air with any words they might have swirling in their heads. Shiro isn’t dead. Not that they know. Not that they want to believe. But it still feels like they’re mourners at an unexpected funeral as they gather around the black lion.

            “There’s gotta be some kind of clue or something here.” Lance says eventually. “We should search the black lion more carefully.” With the spell of desolation temporarily broken, everyone returns to life.

            “Excellent idea, Lance!” Coran proclaims, although his usual enthusiasm is heavily dampened. “Hunk and Number five, let’s look around.” Pidge rolls her eyes at Coran’s nickname and her face is close enough to a smile that Lance can consider his suggestion a success. He re-approaches the black lion, and immediately feels a strange energy coming off of it. At first Lance assumes it’s part of their inter-lion connection through Voltron, but none of the others appear affected by it. Lance chews his lip thoughtfully for a moment, but decides there’s nothing he can do about it. He’s got to keep moving forward. He has to. For Shiro. For his teammates. And for the one thing even more painful than losing Shiro. The destroyed expression on Keith’s face when he discovered that the black lion was empty.

            Lance doesn’t really want to go into the cockpit of the black lion, but logically, it’s the most likely place to contain hints about Shiro’s disappearance. As soon as Lance touches the lion’s head, however, his vision goes dark and he feels a strange lightness spread up his body, as if he’s floating in nothingness. Lance blinks hard, once and then twice, before his eyes start working properly again. And suddenly he’s no longer in the Castle of Lions.

            Lance looks down to see swirling galaxies beneath his feet and above his head, but he knows he’s not in space. There’s something off; the glassy surface below him, the strange clouds that appear intermittently in his view, which make Lance feel like he’s seeing the underbelly of all that exists, a negative image of universe. Lance doesn’t have much time to evaluate the situation however, because the scene around him shifts rapidly. He’s still in the same place, but the landscape (if you can call it that) has changed. _It’s a new negative image_ , Lance thinks, _and maybe it’s one from the past_. There are shapes raining down from above him, and it takes Lance a second to realize that it’s _them_. It’s the lions, free falling from an unknown height, with their paladins following suit. Lance immediately locks onto Shiro, who appears to be falling the fastest. Lance tries to run and help, but finds that he can’t move, his feet stuck in the muck of cosmic dust. Lance swallows hard as he realizes he can also see himself falling, golden beams of quintessence leaving his body as he goes, giving him the appearance of shooting star. The scene shifts again, and now the lions and paladins are gone. Lance can just barely make out something in the distance. If only he could just—

            “Lance!” Pidge’s voice startles Lance out of the vision and now he’s returned to his body. He’s back in the black lion bay and none of the paladins around him are hurtling from the sky. Lance breathes a sigh of relief. He does rub his foot against the floor though, just to make sure it’s real. Pidge’s face twists in concern. “Are you okay?” Lance makes a non-committal hand gesture.

            “Yeah yeah I’m fine.” Lance mumbles. “What’s up?”

            “You were seriously spacing out man.” Hunk’s head pokes out from behind one of the black lion’s legs. “Pidge thought she was gonna have to taze you with her bayard.” Lance lets out a weak laugh.

            “I’m just tired guys.” Lance smiles, but the smile doesn’t reach his eyes and absolutely no one is buying the spring in his step as he starts walking out of the room. “I’m just gonna go to the kitchen to get some space goo or something. Zarkon _really_ gets my appetite going!” Lance hates his words as soon as they leave his mouth, but doesn’t dare elaborate on what he’s actually thinking.

            “Fine,” Pidge replies, raising an eyebrow. “I’ll come with you.” She hops down from where she’d perched on one of the black lion’s paws and joins Lance. He doesn’t say it, but Lance is incredibly grateful for her company. He doesn’t know if he could handle being alone right now. But even as he follows Pidge out of the room, Lance can’t shake the hazy purple images swirling around his head, taunting him with the fall of the lions, over and over and over again.

 

…

 

            Keith is now realizing that there’s no place to ‘get air’ in the castle, but his legs don’t stop moving, taking him down hallways that lead to more and more strange rooms with bizarre looking decor. Eventually, Keith finds himself right back in front of his own room, even though he was sure he was on the other side of the castle. Too drained to even think, he simply goes in, locking the door before flopping down on his bed, face first. Keith doesn’t notice when he starts sobbing in earnest, but he come out of his dazed state at the sound of a knock at his bedroom door.

            “Go away!” Keith snarls. Whoever it was doesn’t knock again and Keith feels the vaguest hint of disappointment before returning his face to his pillow. He doesn’t really feel much of anything at the moment, only emptiness. Keith lets the growing numbness in his mind consume him, carrying away any coherent thoughts. Keith eventually drifts off into a dreamless sleep, his heart and body exhausted beyond measure. More knocks happen in his unconsciousness, but Keith doesn’t hear them. He just breathes.

            Keith doesn’t leave his room the next day. After waking up, he doesn’t bother to check what time it is, or to see how the others are doing. He just stares up at the canopy of his room, trying to count the tiny, barely perceptible nicks in the ceiling. He remembers doing something similar at the Garrison, the day the news about Shiro’s supposed death on Kereberos came. He didn’t go to class for a few days, and only left his room after someone noticed he hadn’t been coming to the canteen to eat food. Even when he got up and about, he had this sense of hollowness inside of him and desperately, desperately wanted to feel something again, even if that feeling was the sensation of his fist connecting with someone’s face. But the ‘my brother just died’ story got old after the first few trips to the principal’s office. And so he was booted from the garrison.

            Keith’s mind goes a step further down memory lane, taking him back to the exact moment he walked out of those giant sliding metal doors for the last time. There were groups of cadets huddled in the hallways, whispering to each other, theorizing about what Keith must have done. He even saw Lance and Hunk, leaning against the wall by the faculty lounge. Lance had given him a strange look; a mix of satisfaction, sadness, and…longing? Keith didn’t dwell on it. He couldn’t. He had a speeder bike to steal and an old shack in the desert to find.

            He remembers the first day the shack felt like home. Not the first day he got used to it, because the dusty, creaky bed and perpetually drafty walls were always tedious. But the first day he thought he’d like to return to it at the end of a long day which, ironically, was when Shiro had shown up, bringing the Garrison right back into Keith’s life. He’d been so eager to show Shiro what he’d been working on, and only the tiniest bit smug at Lance’s awe and surprise. He’d never had so many people in that shack before. It had reminded him of his early childhood for a moment. Always busy, always bustling. Always with people.

 

But now Keith is alone.

 

Completely alone.

 

He never does finish counting the nicks in the ceiling.

 

            It’s when Keith can’t remember how much time has passed since the battle that he realizes he has to get out of his room. Despite all the sleep he’s been getting, he still feels a permeating sense of exhaustion, as if the very fibers of his bones have been worn down, made weary by the despair in his soul. He forces himself out of bed, and decides to take a hot shower in the hopes that it will clear his mind. Keith’s movements are sluggish as he emerges into the hallway, but he takes care as he walks, ready to duck behind a corner at the slightest noise. He knows he needs to talk to other paladins. Worse, he knows what he has to say to his friends. But Keith wants to put that off for as long as humanely possible. Even though his unspoken words are eating at him, burning a hole in his vocal cords as they itch to come out. But Keith doesn’t know if he’s ready to set the truth free. Not yet.

            When he decides the coast is clear, Keith ducks into the large communal bathroom. He can’t be bothered to go through all the fancy ‘personal calibrations’ that the Altean showers come with, so Keith just hits a random button and breathes a sign of relief when it’s hot water and not strange bathing oil that starts pouring over his head. He allows himself to get lost in the warmth that spreads down his body and takes some deep breaths. _One, then two, then three_ , he thinks _._ Shiro was the one who had taught him to count as a way to calm down. For whatever reason _patience yields focus_ floats into Keith’s mind and suddenly he’s crying again, sobbing and hugging his knees to his chest on the shower floor.

            “Take a deep breath.” Keith forces himself to stay out loud, between hiccuping sobs. “One, then two, then three.”

            Keith makes his way to the control room after showering. His head is still fuzzy with sadness and fury but he doesn’t let that stop him, forcing himself to put one foot in front of the other. He hears voices as he comes closer and feels a tightening in his chest. He’s not happy about what he’s about to do and doesn’t even really have a plan. It’s the last thing he wants; he hated it when Shiro mentioned it the first time. But Keith knows that if he doesn’t take that responsibility, they might never find Shiro. And that’s not a risk that Keith’s willing to take.

            All conversation stops when Keith appears at the doorway of the room. Coran pauses, in the middle of explaining some Altean factoid, so that everyone can acknowledge Keith. Fleetingly, Keith realizes that he must look terrible, but he can’t dwell on that now. He refuses.

            “Listen up guys.” Keith winces at the crack in his own voice, but doesn’t stop speaking. “Our first priority right now should be getting Shiro back. We all have to work together as a team if that’s gonna happen.” Keith pauses to look around for nodding faces before continuing. “But in Shiro’s…absence.” Keith swallows hard. “I’ll have to lead Team Voltron.”


	2. Walls Between Walls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance have their inevitable falling out. Hunk and Pidge may have a way of finding Shiro and Lance still doesn’t understand his visions. Allura’s struggling a little more than she’s letting on and Coran is just trying to keep everyone together. 
> 
> The castle has walls, but so do the people in it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, but life has been crazy! Hopefully I'll be able to post chapter 3 before my break ends ;)

 

            “Are you out of your mind?” Lance asks incredulously.

            “Maybe.” Keith’s gaze grows steely. “But what have you all been doing to help find Shiro while I’ve been…out?” Honestly, not that much, but no one dares speak up. They’ve all been grieving in their own private ways, knowing that Keith would need more time to heal than they would. But now they feel strangely guilty. “See!” Keith’s voice cracks. “You’re all acting like he’s dead!” Even Lance doesn’t have anything to say to that. “Look.” Keith says. “I really, really don’t want to do this.” Keith swallows hard. “But when we were all separated after the wormhole incident, Shiro told me...” Keith is sure his eyes are glittering with water now, but can’t do anything to stop it. “He said that if he didn’t make it.” A tear skates down Keith’s cheek. “That I would have to lead Team Voltron.” Lance is visibly fuming, but Coran steps in before the blue paladin can say anything.

            “So do you have a plan then, Keith?” Coran’s voice is full of nothing but warmth, and Keith feels himself calm down a little bit.

            “Yes.” Keith replies, knowing full well he’s about to make something up on the spot. “Have…have Slav and the Blade of Marmora left yet?” Coran nods.

            “They left almost immediately after the battle.” Coran says gravely. “Their ranks took heavy damage, especially with Thace’s death, and they said they needed to regroup at their headquarters.” Keith hangs his head. “But there is good news!” Coran exclaims, fiddling with his moustache. “They also said they’d be on the look out for Shiro, and would be sure to contact us if they find out anything!” Keith manages half a smile at this and continues on with his makeshift plan.

            “Okay I was thinking about how we could track Shiro and…” Keith’s voice trails off as he looks around the room, searching for a source of inspiration. His eyes find Allura and a metaphorical light bulb goes off above Keith’s head. “Allura, remember when we thought Zarkon was tracking us, but he was just tracking the black lion?”

            “Yes, but Zarkon was drawing on his connection with the black lion to do so.” Allura frowns as Keith laughs nervously.

            “I’ve thought about that.” Keith forces himself to sound more confident in his words. “The connections we have to our lions are based on having similar quintessence, right?” Allura and Coran nod slowly. “So what if we can reverse that?” Keith is more animated now, using expressive hand gestures as he talks. “What if we can use the quintessence of the black lion to track Shiro’s quintessence or something? And then use that connection to find Shiro?”

At the repeated mentions of quintessence, Lance seizes up, feeling a stabbing in his temples. He briefly sees the fall of the lions pass before his eyes again before returning to reality. Lance pinches the bridge of his nose in an attempt to relieve the pain. After a moment, Lance realizes that all conversation has stopped and that Keith is looking at him intently. Lance wants to snap at him, ask Keith what in the hell could he possibly want, but something makes Lance stop. Something in Keith’s eyes that Lance can’t quiet explain, and that he maybe doesn’t want to think about right now. He settles for glaring back at Keith, which startles the other boy.

            “Well,” Hunk starts, desperately trying to diffuse the tension of the room. “I did make that pseudo-Geiger counter for quintessence back on earth when we were looking for the blue lion. I can rebuild something similar.” Hunk wrings his hands when Keith and Lance don’t break their tempestuous eye contact.

            “Great idea, Hunk!” Pidge chimes in, similarly concerned. “Maybe I can help you modify the Geiger counter so it works over longer distances?”

            “Lets get to work then.” Hunk and Pidge leave hastily, both making the executive decision that Allura or Coran can deal with the blow up that’s about to happen. As it turns out, neither of the Alteans have any intention of getting in the Lance and Keith crossfire either.

            “I think I’ll look through the archives of the ship!” Coran says, his usual enthusiasm now forced. “Let’s see if any of the paladins of old attempted something like this.”

            “I’ll help!” Allura exclaims, practically running after Coran. She spares a quick glance backward before exiting the room as quickly but gracefully as possible. She has yet to understand the dynamic of the new blue and red paladins, but it didn’t take her more than a tick to realize that they had some differences that they really, really needed to talk about. Talking, which she didn’t particularly fancy mediating. And so Lance and Keith are alone, Lance’s defiant gaze still locked with Keith’s malcontented one.

            “Do you want something?” Keith asks, a distinct heat in his voice. Somehow, it doesn’t match the pain that creeps back into his eyes.

            “Not really.” Lance snaps back. For half a millisecond he’s tempted to tell Keith about the visions. About the gold beams and lions and how he’s scared, oh so scared by what he’s seeing. But Lance shrinks back, retreating into himself. He forces himself to remember why he’s mad. “I just don’t know why you’re acting like you’re the Queen of Sheba all of a sudden.”

            “Who?” The confusion on Keith’s face is so genuine that Lance almost feels bad about the pot of anger bubbling up inside his chest. But harsh words are like lava; once one is said, they all coming spilling out.

            “Forget it!” Lance’s voice cracks a little but he doesn’t allow himself to dwell on it. “I don’t know why you’re playing at being leader, since you obviously don’t know what you’re doing.” _Lance’s words sting,_ Keith realizes, _because they ring so true_.

            “You’re not wro—”

            “You’re hot headed, have no experience, and don’t know _how_ to talk to your teammates!” Lance says, completely ignoring Keith’s half sentence. “And you know what the worst part is?” Lance’s jaw clenches. “You’re acting like you’re the only one who’s in pain, the only who’s missing Shiro.” Lance is on the verge of tears at this point and Keith feels the other boy’s sadness like a punch to the gut. “He’s not just your brother!” Again, Lance isn’t wrong. Keith winces as he recalls his own harsh words from when he first entered the control room.

            “I’m sorry.” Keith says softly. “I didn’t mean it like that.” Lance just rolls his eyes.

            “Whatever. I’m gonna go help Hunk and Pidge.” Lance starts walking towards the door, but pauses for a moment and turns back around to face Keith again. “For the record, I don’t care what Shiro said.” Lance’s face is full of darkness. “I’ll never accept you as my leader.” And with that the blue paladin exits the room, leaving a devastated Keith in his wake.

            Keith doesn’t know how long it’s been since their argument, but the twisting in his chest makes each hour feel like eons, every minute like centuries, every tick like decades. He doesn’t know how he can simply think about apologizing, and wonders if he actually can. Even as he attempts to scour records with Allura and Coran, he keeps seeing Lance’s pained face between lines of strange characters. He keeps hearing ‘never’ in his ears. And he feels his heart aching again. _God I wish Shiro were here_ , Keith thinks. He then tries not to cry at the impossibility of his statement.

            “Keith?” Allura’s voice brings Keith out of his thoughts. “Have you thought about taking a break?” Keith squints, as if Allura is speaking to him in another language. “It’s just...” Allura struggles with a polite way to say her next words, but Coran beats her to it.

            “Keith you’ve been looking at the same file there for far too many ticks.” Coran’s voice is kind but firm. “Why don’t you take a stroll? Or maybe check on the others?” Keith jumps up.

            “Yeah, I’ll do that.” Keith begins walking briskly towards the hanger of the green lion, knowing without a doubt the other three paladins will be there.

            “Thank you, Coran.” Allura says gratefully as she watches Keith go. Coran waves her comment off.

            “Don’t worry, princess.” Coran’s eyes are fond. “The poor boy has been through a lot.”

 

…

 

            “Hey, guys.” Keith can hear the strain in his own voice and knows that the others can hear it too. Lance pointedly ignores him and even Pidge doesn’t look up from her laptop, just making a vague waving gesture as a form of greeting. Hunk, however, dusts off his hands and collects himself into a smile.

            “Hey, man. What’s up?” Hunk’s warmth makes Keith relax a little. He clears his throat before speaking again.

            “I uh just wanted to see how you guys were doing.” Keith’s statement sounds more like a question. “The archives are kind of a bust.” Keith rubs that back of his neck.

            “To be honest, we’re not making that much progress here either.” Hunk replies sadly. “But Lance did have this super cool idea of using Balmeran crystals to amplify the energy we’ll be tracking.”

            “It was just a suggestion.” Lance says hastily from his place beside Pidge. “I don’t know if it’ll actually work.”

            “I’m sure it will.” Keith says, surprising everyone with his words. Lance even looks up, daring to make eye contact with Keith. But this time there’s no heat in their gazes. It’s cool and not as intense, and for the first time that day Lance notices the walls of sadness that have built themselves up in Keith’s usually sparkling eyes. And suddenly a wave of guilt crashes over Lance. It’s not an entirely unfamiliar feeling for the blue paladin, but it is in this context. And what’s even stranger is that Keith is no longer fighting back. “See you later.” Keith mumbles, breaking eye contact with Lance and backing out of the bay. Keith’s shoulders are hunched, and Lance watches Keith’s retreating form with another stab of remorse. There’s a part of his brain telling him to not feel bad. Telling him that _this is Keith, good at everything, always better than you, Keith_. But another mentality is starting to overtake that. _This is Keith, who’s hurting just as much as you are, who’s your partner in crime, that you were just a major dick to, Keith_. Lance buries his face in his hands. He knew that unlearning the past of the Garrison would be difficult, but going into the future with Keith might be even more challenging. But that doesn’t mean Lance doesn’t want to try.

            Keith thought that trying to talk to Lance would make him feel better, but somehow he just feels shittier. His exhaustion comes back, which causes him to screw up one of the file systems on the ship, which Coran and Allura now have to reboot. They both say it’s no big deal, but they’re looking at Keith like he’s cracking porcelain figure and Keith knows it. Dinner is silent and awkward, with even Hunk failing to fill the gaps in conversation and Keith nearly snaps at Pidge, of all people, for not hearing him when he asks her to pass the food goo. He ends up just walking out without saying anything. No one stops him from leaving the dining room and Keith is grateful for that, all too aware that he wouldn’t know the right thing to say. He considers just going back to his room, but that would mean having to walk past Lance’s. Keith sighs. It’s difficult to decipher how he feels about Lance on a good day, and today is the exact opposite of that. And so Keith searches for somewhere else in the castle to distract him.

            Keith ends up going back to the pool. But for some reason, it just doesn’t feel the same. _Because Lance isn’t here_ , his brain helpfully supplies, but Keith hastily pushes those thoughts away.

            “Altean pools are stupid anyways.” Keith mutters as he makes his way back to the elevator. After he puts his regular clothes back on, Keith continues to walk aimlessly. He at least takes care to avoid the common room and the kitchen, but doesn’t pay attention to much more than putting one foot in front of the other. Shiro would tell him that “patience yields focus” but Keith has nothing to focus on. Or rather he has too many things to focus on at once. He’s like a compass gone haywire, spinning in all directions, but never pointing to where he actually needs to be. What he needs to be. Keith isn’t sure what he is to the group at this point, but he’s certainly not a leader. For the umpteenth time he wishes that none of this was happening.

            Keith stops in front of the control room. Not out of any particular fondness, but because he thinks he hears faint crying coming from within. He enters to see a lone figure sitting on the floor, gazing up at a star map. For a strange half second, Keith thinks that it’s Lance and feels an unwarranted sense of disappointment when he realizes the person is Allura. Keith is silent for a moment before deciding to approach her.

            “Are you alright?” Keith asks, taking a few cautious steps forward. Allura’s head whips around but she manages a weak smile when she sees Keith.

            “I’m fine, thank you.” The redness and puffiness of Allura’s eyes tell a different story and Keith moves to sit down next to the princess.

            “You miss Shiro.” It’s a statement, not a question, and Keith notices that the princess doesn’t flinch at his words. “Look,” Keith starts. He runs his fingers through his hair. “I know we’ve had a rough past few weeks.” _Understatement of the century_ , Keith thinks to himself. “But we’re gonna find him.” Keith lets out a deep breath. “It’s gonna be okay.” For a moment he forgets who he’s trying to convince, Allura or himself.

            “It’s just…” Allura sniffles. “I know this sounds ridiculous,” Her voice is thick with tears at this point. “But I need Shiro here…” She trails off. “He made me feel more grounded. Having some else to lead the group with me, knowing that all you paladins were in good hands.” Allura pauses. “I don’t know what I’ll do if we don’t find him.

            “Because we won’t be able to form Voltron?” Keith immediately wants to put his foot in his mouth.

            “That won’t matter if Shiro is dead.” Allura’s words hang in the air for a moment, because sometimes the naked ugliness of the truth can be difficult to process.

            “It’s going to be okay.” Keith mumbles, definitely trying to convince himself more than Allura this time. He awkwardly pats Allura on the shoulder as the princess wipes her tears with the back of her hand.

            “I hope you’re right, Keith.” Allura sniffles again. _I hope I’m right too_ , Keith thinks, biting his lip, _I hope I’m right too._

            This, of course, is the exact moment that Lance decides to walk past the control room. After seeing Keith walk out of dinner looking so desolate, Lance had made up his mind. He definitely owed Keith an apology, and whether or not that apology was going to be any good, Lance at least had to try. He’d managed to distract himself for a while with Hunk and Pidge, playing an Altean board game with them that was essentially a cross between chess and mancala. But the moment Lance saw the briefest glimpse of dark hair bobbing down the hallway adjacent to the common room, Lance quickly excused himself, coming up with some dubious reason that he’s sure he’ll get interrogated about by Hunk later. Lance was just going to head to Keith’s room, but now he stops. Lance stops because he sees Keith and Allura sitting next to each other quietly, with Keith’s hand on Allura’s shoulder. And suddenly Lance feels this white-hot rush of jealousy, unlike anything he’s ever felt before. And the worst part is it’s not like he has anything to be jealous of. He and Keith aren’t even on good terms at the moment; Lance is well aware of this. But logic doesn’t stop the roiling of Lance’s stomach and the clenching of his heart. Nothing makes sense anymore; he’s accepted it at this point. It only takes about a second before Lance has had enough, and he storms down the hall, his shoes loudly slapping the metal floor, but Lance can’t be bothered to give a damn if the whole castle hears him.

            Perhaps the whole castle doesn’t hear Lance, but Keith certainly does, jumping up instantly when he hears the noise. By the time he gets to the doorway, however, Keith is too late and just barely sees Lance turning the corner, a determination and anger in his step. Keith feels an urge to follow Lance, and decides to listen to his instinct. He briefly asks Allura if she’ll be fine and as soon as he sees the princess nod Keith is off like a shot, tearing down the hallway after Lance. It’s again too late, Keith realizes sadly as he catches up, only to see the door to Lance’s room closing a few yards ahead. Keith does still walk to Lance’s room. Keith even raises his fist to knock, but he stops himself. He doesn’t know why he wants to knock. He doesn’t know why he doesn’t. And now he’s just sad and confused again and Keith’s starting to get tired of only feeling the same two emotions day in and day out. He goes to bed in a cloud of dissatisfaction, with disappointment and the faintest tinges of anger accompanying him as he puts his head on his pillow.

            “What is it with him?” Keith wonders aloud about Lance, to no one in particular. Unsurprisingly, he doesn’t get a response. He rolls over grumpily, knowing that it might take him a while to get to sleep. What he doesn’t know, however, is that down the hall another boy is having a similar conversation with himself, hoping that a relaxing facemask will help him pick apart the oddities of Keith.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> up next: Lance figures out some of the weird things that have been happening to him, and comes up with a plan.


	3. Seeing in Color

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance’s visions are growing in intensity, forcing the blue paladin to search for answers. Unexpected revelations from Coran and Allura not only worry Lance, but also widen the rift between him and Keith. As tensions in the castle reach a breaking point, will Lance unwittingly become the key to finding Shiro?

        Lance wakes up with the bitter taste of morning breath and regrets in his mouth. He sits up in his bed and proceeds to hug his knees to his chest. He doesn’t want to leave his room; leaving means dealing with reality. But he also knows he’ll go crazy if he doesn’t. Lance sighs. Everything that’s been happening has started to take a toll on him. Hunk has picked up on the absence of Lance’s jokes and Pidge has gotten in the habit of asking Lance if he’s ‘okay.’ Lance isn’t sure he knows what that word means anymore. He does want to talk to someone though, and he knows who he _should_ want to talk to: Hunk, his best friend since forever and Pidge, his previously frosty engineer who’s become like a sister to him. But for whatever reason Lance’s mind keeps wandering back to Keith. Keith, and the conversation the two of them have to have.

        Okay, maybe they don’t  _ have  _ to talk.

        But Lance wants to.

Lance eventually forces himself to get out of bed, putting on his blue, lion-shaped slippers. The slippers coax a smile out of Lance and his mind clears of worries for a moment. That’d always been a talent of his; finding happiness in the smallest of things. Lance leaves his room in better spirits, ready to wash his face and start the day properly. He almost starts whistling, that is, until he realizes he’s walking past Keith’s room. Lance expects his mood to sour, but oddly, it doesn’t. He just feels a confusing ache which he can’t tell is from his mind or his body. Lance shakes his head, trying to reorganize his thoughts. _I definitely need to wash my face,_ he thinks. Lance jogs down the hallway until he’s at least around the corner. A few moments later, Keith’s bedroom door swings open, the red paladin awakened by the noise. But he is simply greeted with an empty corridor.

…

Lance has loved the Altean bathrooms since the first day the paladins arrived on the ship. The incredible range of cleansing options and precise temperature settings has done wonders for his skin, he’s convinced. But today something feels off. The soap isn’t foaming as much as it should be and, no matter how much Lance fiddles with the temperature nozzle, the water just feels a little too cold.

“Whatever.” Lance mutters to no one in particular as he stands staring at the offending sink, disgruntled. He cups his hands to collect some water, then splashes his face. Lance feels a strange chill run through him and splashes his face again, trying to calm whatever nerves he must be having. But it becomes clear a moment later that Lance is experiencing more than simple anxiety as an all too familiar stabbing sensation returns to his temples. Lance stumbles backward at the sheer intensity of the pain and lands on the floor, his back colliding roughly with the metal surface. He tries to sit up, but another chill rakes up his spine, forcing him to stay down. When Lance does finally arise, he rubs his eyes for a moment before looking around.

        And he’s lost again.

Lance resists the urge to scream as he falls through space and nothingness. The faint purple clouds glittering around him tells Lance that he’s back in his strange alternate universe, but that doesn’t make the sensation of plummeting any less real. Lance feels something whip past his face and it takes him a moment to realize, to his horror, that it’s Keith’s bayard. Lance forces himself to look up and sees the red paladin also falling, some distance above. Keith’s eyes are closed, his face waxen, and Lance cries out, but his voice is lost in the wind, wind that by all rights shouldn’t even exist. Lance steers his gaze away from Keith, a twisting in his gut and a pounding in his chest. He sees the rest of the paladins falling too and Lance recalls his first vision from touching the black lion. _Instead of seeing us fall, I am falling_ , Lance thinks numbly as the negative reality continues to rush past him at an alarming speed. _But is this a vision, or a memory?_ Lance thinks it’s an odd thought as soon as it enters his mind, but can’t avoid the undeniable sense of déjà vu. Which terrifies him. Lance starts screaming in earnest and soon feels a vague sensation on his shoulders, as if someone’s trying to shake him awake from under a large pile of blankets.

“Lance? Lance!” Hunk grips Lance’s shoulders a little more tightly. “Talk to me!” Lance swallows hard and blinks a few times before accepting that he’s returned to the present. He’s sprawled on the floor of the bathroom in the Castle of Lions. He can feel the cool metal floor on his back. He can see Hunk looking down at him in concern. His shirt is still damp from washing his face. He’s fine.

Lance sits up, grunting with effort as he does. “I’m okay, Hunk.” Hunk, still crouching beside Lance, doesn’t believe his friend for a second.

“No you’re not, okay?” Hunk’s jaw is set, and Lance realizes there’s no way he’s getting out of this one. “I came in here because I heard someone yelling and when I got here you were lying on the floor, your face all twisted. Almost like you were having a nightmare.” Hunk crosses his arms. “ What’s going on?”

“You can’t tell anyone.” Lance’s voice is barely a whisper. Hunk squints.

“Lance who do you take me for?” A small smile makes its way onto Hunk’s face. “Remember, I’ve never told another soul about the spaghetti incident.”

“We swore to never speak of that again!” Lance shares a look with Hunk and they both burst out laughing, in spite of themselves. Hunk takes a moment to regain composure before returning to business.

“Seriously though.” Hunk’s voice is calm, but purposefully probing. “Tell me what’s been going on.” Lance lets out a long sigh.

“I’ve been having weird dreams recently.” Lance starts cautiously. Hunk gives him an encouraging nod.

“What about?”

“Well I guess they’re not really dreams…” Lance rubs the edge of his shirtsleeve between his thumb and index figure. “Especially since this is the about the third time I’ve had one of them during the day.” Lance chews his lip. “Remember when I spaced out and got all weird when we were searching the black lion?”

“Yeah.” Hunk’s expression is now more than a little puzzled, but Lance presses on.

“When I touched the lion, I didn’t just space out.” Lance breathes again. “I had a vision.” Hunk fights the urge to raise an eyebrow. “And not just any kind of vision,” Lance says, gesturing emphatically with his hands. “I’m talking like a three-D, surround sound, high definition vision.” Lance is more than a little agitated now and starts jiggling his knee. “I saw us. In our paladin suits I mean. We were…” Lance has to pause again. “We were all falling. Tumbling through space, except it wasn’t space. Kinda like an alternate reality almost.” Lance clenches a fist. “It looked like what could have happened after Haggar shot us during the battle with Zarkon.”

“So what you’re seeing…you think they’re memories?” Hunk asks. Lance chews his lip again.

“At first I thought they were just dreams, but….” Lance trails off. “Just now, I felt it. I was falling, Hunk.” Lance feels his whole body trembling now, and Hunk moves closer to put a comforting hand on Lance’s shoulder. “I could see you and Pidge and Shiro and Keith above me as we were all just—” Lance cuts himself off with a strangled sound and Hunk gives the other boy a reassuring squeeze.

“I would say that we should mention this to the others, but I already know you don’t want to.” Hunk takes in Lance’s appreciative nod. “So tell me what I can do to help, man.” Hunk squeezes Lance’s shoulder again. “To be honest with you, I’m kinda freaking out too, maybe more than you.” Hunk breathes deeply. “But you’re my best friend, so you come first. What do you need?” Lance gives him a grateful smile, knowing no words can properly express his gratitude.

Lance thinks for a moment before speaking. “Cover for me?”

“What?” Hunk’s brow crinkles in confusion.

“Didn’t Keith say something about doing a bonding exercise today so we wouldn’t ‘lose our ability to form Voltron’?”

“Yeah…” Hunk grimaces. “I mean look Lance he’s really trying hard—”

“My opinion on Keith actually isn’t relevant, for once.” Lance wonders if his words are a little too self aware before continuing. “I need to ditch to go visit the black lion.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” From anyone else those words might seem contemptuous, but Hunk exudes nothing but warmth. Lance sighs.

“Honestly Hunk, I don’t know.” Lance forces himself to stand up, using Hunk for support. “But right now I just need answers. I need to understand what’s going on, and the black lion is where my visions started happening. I have to go.”

“Okay,” Hunk grunts as he stands up himself. “Good luck.” He pulls Lance into a quick, one-armed embrace that Lance accepts gratefully.

“Thanks, Hunk.” Lance looks at his friend for a moment before leaving the bathroom and disappearing down the corridor. It’s at this moment Hunk realizes he’s a terrible liar and there’s an absolutely minimal chance of success if he makes up a story to why Lance is gone. But Lance has already left and Hunk is alone in the bathroom, wondering how and when his life got so complicated.

…

Lance thought he’d reached the pinnacle of frustration with his recent sort-of hallucinations, but yet again, he’s proven wrong. He circles the black lion, his eyes searching, as if looking a special button to press to take him back to the other dimension. He doesn’t understand why it’s so difficult now. Last time, all he had to do was touch the lion. But now, nothing. _I finally want to get sucked into a vision, and I can’t,_ Lance thinks bitterly, the irony of the situation not escaping him. He circles around again before pausing to think. Lance closes his eyes and breathes deeply, re-centering himself. _The head!_ Lance’s eyes flash open as the answer pops into his mind. He only had his first vision _afte_ r he touched the head of the lion. Lance locks eyes with the metal cathead. Much like the first time, the prospect of entering the cockpit of the black lion feels daunting, almost uncomfortable. Lance is tempted to bolt, but he clenches his fist, digging his nails into his palm to keep his runaway thoughts in check. _Don’t you want to find out the truth?_ the unhelpful voice in the back of his mind supplies.

“Let’s do this.” Lance says out loud, steeling himself to enter the black lion. Lance regrets this decision as soon as he touches the back of the pilot’s chair and is instantly sent hurtling back into the nightmare world. And this time there’s someone else in his vision.

Lance starts shaking as soon as he sees Zarkon in full armor directly in front of him, the emperor’s unsettling purple eyes boring holes into Lance’s body. Lance instinctively reaches for his bayard before remembering that he’s in his civilian clothes, not his paladin suit, and swears under his breath. Despite Lance’s fears, Zarkon completely ignores him, sailing right past the blue paladin and Lance can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. But that’s before he sees who Zarkon is after.

“Shiro!” Lance feels his heart in his throat as he sees the black paladin and the emperor collide, purple sparks spitting from Shiro’s metal hand. Zarkon wields the  bastardized black bayard and it practically looms over Shiro, exuding a foreign, twisted quintessence forced into it by the druids. Lance feels a strange pain as the energy resonating from the battle touches him and drops to the ground. Except there is no ground beneath him in this world and he just goes tumbling again, sailing closer towards the conflict. Metal strikes metal once more and Lance realizes that Shiro’s not trying to take down Zarkon, his attacks more defensive than anything. _Could it be?_ Lance closes his eyes for a moment so he can turn his previous visions over in his head. He’s almost certain that he’s seeing memories at this point, even if they are strange and twisted, and tries to figure out the moment he’s seeing now. He reflects on the battle with Zarkon and remembers the moment in which Shiro and Zarkon had engaged in a telepathic battle of wills and Shiro had somehow gotten his bayard back. _Could this be what actually happened?_ Lance opens his eyes to a completely different scene. Zarkon is hunched over and breathing heavily while Shiro is doing the same. Except now Shiro is holding the black bayard, restored to its original form. The black paladin turns it over in his hands once before breaking into a run, fading into the purple nothingness of the negative dimension as he sprints.

“Shiro?” Lance calls. “Where are you going? Shiro!” Thump. Lance takes several moments before realizing that he’s lying on the floor of the cockpit of the black lion, gazing up at the ceiling. He sits up with a start, and immediately regrets it as a wave of nausea hits him like a freight train. Somehow that vision had shaken him even more than the one in the bathroom earlier and Lance’s right hand starts to tremble again. “Shit.” He quickly grabs it with his left to stabilize it. Lance takes a deep breath. He’s been given far more questions than answers and now feels like he’s losing his mind more than anything. His one coherent thought is to get the hell out of the black lion so Lance goes into autopilot mode, jumping up and exiting the metal cat as fast as his legs can carry him. He keeps running even after he’s out of the hangar, continually looking over his shoulder as if his shadow is following him. This, incidentally, is how Lance runs straight into Coran, who’s currently carrying an armful of delicate looking crystals.

“Quiznak!” Coran exclaims as he attempts to keep any of the crystals from falling. “Lance, you really should watch where you’re going! It’s really quite a useful skill I learned from my cadet da—” Coran immediately stops talking as he takes in Lance’s pained eyes and trembling frame. “My boy, what’s wrong?” Lance tries speaking, but his mouth just ends up opening and closing without any sound coming out. And that’s when Lance just bursts into tears.

…

        “So after Shiro disappeared, I was suddenly in the cockpit of the black lion again.” Lance looks down sheepishly. “I was pretty freaked out, so I made a break for it, and that’s when I ran into you.”

        “And that’s everything that happened?” Coran asks. 

“Yeah, that’s all of it.” Lance sniffles before drinking another sip of questionably pink liquid from the cup the Coran has given him. They’ve been sitting in the kitchen for a while now, just talking. After Coran made sure no one else would come in, he coaxed Lance’s troubles out of him with varying bizarre Altean sweets and drinks. Lance isn’t sure if the Altean’s cooking is getting better, or if his stomach’s simply grown stronger. Regardless, he feels much better than he did earlier, although still fairly shaken up.

“Hmm.” Coran fiddles with his moustache for a moment before speaking again. “Lance, have you ever heard of a person being quintessence sensitive?”

“Who the what now?” Lance’s confused expression is so comical that Coran can’t help but chuckle.

“I wasn’t sure if Allura had ever brought it up or not.” Coran’s face is wistful now as he looks at Lance. “Before…Zarkon, Alteans were universally agreed to be masters of controlling and shaping quintessence.” Coran pauses for a moment before continuing. “But there were Alteans who were particularly called  ‘quintessence sensitive’ and experienced some of the things that you have.” Lance’s brow furrows.

“Like what?”

“Well they could have visions like you’re describing, certainly.” Coran says. “They had special abilities, akin to magical powers and could connect to and draw upon the quintessence of the universe in their time of need. Unfortunately it appears that _some_ have turned to the dark side of quintessence.” Coran purses his lips. “You know, the Order of the Druids wasn’t always evil. They were one of the greatest organizations of quintessence wielders in the universe in Altea’s time. We had no idea they would survive the war. Or what they would become.” Lance gulps as he remembers the pain on Allura’s face when she revealed to them that Haggar was Altean.

“But where would I fit into this?” Lance’s face is open, unaware of the implications of his question, and Coran decides to not say what he’s actually hoping is true.

“Well I’m not sure.” Coran says softly. “Allura is the last Altean alive I would say is truly quintessence sensitive. That’s how her life energy can connect to both the castle and the lions.” Coran pauses again. “But, given what Haggar did to Voltron with her quintessence weapon, it’s possible that you absorbed some of what happened to the lions, and thus developed the ability have these visions.”

“I guess anything’s possible.” Lance replies, nodding. “I mean I already help pilot a giant fighting metal robot, how much weirder could my life possibly get?” Lance chews his lip. “But then what about the place that I keep seeing in my visions, the strange purple space that isn’t space with the weird clouds?” Lance realizes his description could probably be better, but he knows he’s so close to answers that he doesn’t bother to revise his words.

“I think what you’re describing is the Astral Plane.” Coran’s face is serious again. “It’s another world that exists in parallel to our own, like a spiritual dimension, as humans might call it.” Lance nods slowly, not quite understanding. “It’s essentially made up of all the residual quintessence from all the places in the universe. So everywhere in our world has a kind of mirror in the Astral Plane.”

“So I’ve been basically traveling to an alternate universe?” Lance asks.

“Not quite.” Coran says. “Only your consciousness has. When you have ‘visions’ like that, your quintessence gives you a physical form in the Astral Plane.”

“So it’s like there are two of me!” A grin breaks out on Lance’s face. “I bet Astral Plane me is even _more_ handsome.” Coran smiles back, happy to have put the blue paladin into better spirits. But then Coran’s face becomes grave once more.

“Lance, we have to tell the others about this.” Coran winces as he sees the blue paladin’s face. “We have to consider the serious possibility that these visions might be the key to finding Shiro.” 

“What if I’m wrong, Coran?” Lance’s fright is obvious. “I mean, what if I’m just going crazy and what I’m seeing means…nothing? And I’m just getting everyone’s hopes up?” He sighs. “I’d be letting the team down more than I already do.” Lance tries to play that last sentence off with a chuckle, but Coran’s eyes narrow, and the Altean makes a mental note to have another conversation with the blue paladin later.

“Well if you’re really unsure, I suppose we could always consult Allura.” At Coran’s suggestion, Lance cocks his head to one side in confusion. “She’s arguably the foremost living expert on quintessence sensitivity. She’d be able to give you more detailed answers to your questions than I can.” Now Lance has to think for a moment. As much as he’d rather not tell anyone else about what’s happening, especially not Keith, he can’t argue with Coran’s logic on both fronts. He can get more answers from Allura, and his friends deserve to know if they have a shot at finding Shiro. _Baby steps_ , Lance decides.

“Okay.” Lance puts his hands up in surrender. “I guess we can go talk to Allura.” Coran claps his hands together delightedly. “But I’m still not telling the others.” Coran nods.

“We’ll work on it.” The Altean smiles and slings an arm around Lance’s shoulders. “Well come on then! Chop chop!” As he gently but firmly leads Lance to Allura’s room, Coran is quiet, thinking over all that Lance has told him. In spite of Lance’s own words about false hope, Coran can’t help the budding possibility turning over in his head, the small warmth rising in his chest. _Only Alteans can have these abilities,_ the voice in Coran’s mind continues to supply, even as the pair approach Allura’s door. _So where does that leave Lance?_ Coran’s mind wonders, but never answers.

Allura is surprised to see the two of them, but lets them into her chambers regardless. Coran had been forcing her to take some time to rest after the exhausting battle with Zarkon, and for once it looked like Allura had listened. She greets them in a nightgown, her hair loosely braided (probably by the mice) and sits on her bed as Lance and Coran tell her the situation. This allows her to fall back on her pillows, her jaw dropping as Lance finishes describing the events of earlier that day.

“What!” Allura’s voice is a high pitch Lance knows well, and he assumes he’s in for a lecture. Surprisingly, it doesn’t come. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, Lance.”

“Thanks.” Lance’s eyes are still downcast and Allura feels the tendrils of pity blooming in her heart. _He’s not even flirting_ , she thinks sadly, _that’s how shaken up he is_.

“I do wish you’d told us a little sooner,” the princess starts. “But, I’m glad you have now.” Allura sits up a little straighter in her bed. “I agree with pretty much everything Coran has already said. You’re clearly experiencing quintessence sensitivity. I don’t know how or why it’s happening, but I do think there _is_ a chance that your new abilities could help us find Shiro.”

“I can’t control them though,” Lance blurts out. “If I can’t pick and choose what I’m seeing, we won’t be able to use my visions for anything.” Lance cross his arms, and Allura feels a frown creep up her face.

“When I was learning to use the castle, I had to spend hours practice before I could control it and my own connection to the lions as well as I do now.” Allura’s voice is firm. “You just need time, Lance.” _Time we don’t have_ , Lance thinks silently, _so I better get practicing_.

“Until we know for sure, I’d uh like to keep this just between us,” Lance mumbles, the gears in his mind spinning far beyond the words leaving his mouth. “If that’s okay.”

“For now.” Allura’s eyes are hard. “Coran and I will certainly have to do some research on if there have previously been humans with your kind of powers, and we’ll definitely have to test your ability at some point.” Allura sighs. For once, she can’t bring herself to say no to Lance. “But we won’t say anything to the others for now.” A huge smile of relief spreads across Lance’s face and Allura can’t help but smile back.

“Thanks!” Lance says before quickly making his way to the door. “See you Allura, see you Coran!”

“Lance, where are you going?” The Alteans ask in unison.

“I have to get uh food from the—control room.” And with that Lance is gone, tearing across the castle like a man on a mission.

“Should we go after him?” Allura’s voice is full of concern.

“We should just leave him, princess,” Coran murmurs. “He’s still in bit of a state, I think.”

“You’re probably right,” Allura says, nodding pensively. “I suppose we should get started on that research, then?”

“Right!” Coran stands a little straighter. “Yes! Good!” Allura gives him a confused look as she hops out of bed, but decides to not question.

“I just hope he doesn’t do anything reckless.” She says, shaking her head. 

…

What Lance ends up doing isn’t exactly reckless, per se, but certainly fits into the same category of impulsive stupidity. In spite of his two trying experiences that morning, Lance finds his feet carrying themselves back towards the black lion hangar. The word ‘time’ keeps ringing in Lance’s head from Allura’s comment earlier, burning his ears and making him walk faster. _Maybe Allura and Coran are okay with just sitting around doing research, but I’m actually gonna get something done._ Lance quickens his pace, almost jogging at this point until he’s face to face with the black lion again. Lance regards the giant metal cat coolly as its dull yellow eyes flare for a moment. The sudden light gives Lance a strange feeling, almost as if he’s being watched by the lion, or maybe even its paladin.

“Lance?” Everything goes dark for a moment as Lance hears Shiro’s voice echo through the room. It only takes him a second to return to reality and Lance immediately starts stumbling backward towards the exit, now completely convinced that he’s going crazy. He ends up colliding with a warm body and Lance yelps, instinctively reaching for his bayard (which he still doesn’t have).

“Lance it’s me!” Keith puts his hands on the blue paladin’s shoulders, forcing Lance to turn around. “It’s me, Keith. It’s okay.” They hold eye contact for a second longer than normal before Lance un-tenses. As Lance takes a few deep breaths, Keith instinctively rubs comforting circles into the other boy’s shoulder with his thumb. This surprises Keith himself; he’s not a very tactile person, and he knows he’s not good at comforting people. He saw well enough how that went with Allura’s breakdown the other day. But somehow, it’s different with Lance. It’s always different with Lance.

        “Thanks, Keith.” Lance is finally able to mumble. He breaks their eye contact and ducks his head, embarrassed. “You scared me, and I wasn’t even looking at your face!” The joke is classically Lance, but the laugh that leaves Lance’s lips is hollow and lifeless, which only worries Keith more. But Keith isn’t sure what to say. Or what to ask. Or what to do. It’s probably his fault Lance is feeling shitty.  _ Do I even have the right to ask what he’s going through _ , Keith wonders. He drops his hands from Lance’s shoulders, suddenly feeling self-conscious. Lance feels the absence of Keith’s warmth keenly, but the blue paladin is also silent, still looking at the floor more than anything else.

        “So what are you doing here?” Keith almost wants to punch himself for how stupid he sounds. “You missed team bonding today.”  

        “I live here.” Lance’s voice is deadpan, but there’s a defensiveness lurking in his blue eyes that frightens Keith. The red paladin takes a second to remember where they are and to remember Lance’s words from before. ‘I’ll never accept you as my leader’ repeats in Keith’s mind, like a record that keeps skipping to the song he never wants to listen to. And thus Keith’s mind comes to the realm of suspicion.  _ The black lion bay…does Lance want to become the new black paladin? _ The rational voice in Keith’s head recognizes that this is a ridiculous notion. Really. But Keith’s cracked, crystal heart has no place for being rational.

        “Do you have a sudden interest in the black lion, Lance?” Keith’s eyebrows draw together and his whole face is pinched. For a fleeting moment Keith remembers having an ironically similar conversation with Lance about the blue lion. But the tide of suspicion and insecurity in his mind quickly washes that memory away.

        “No, no, no!” Lance hastily puts his hands up in a placating gesture. “I’m just trying to help with the search.” Lance shifts his weight from one foot to the other. 

        “Honestly just because I keep visiting the black lion doesn’t mean—”

        “Keep visiting?” Keith’s voice is pure ice, and Lance realizes that he doesn’t know the first thing about keeping his mouth shut, especially when he’s nervous. “So you’ve been up here multiple times?” Lance isn’t sure what to say, so he elects to say nothing at all, in the hopes that Keith might cool down a little. “Seriously, Lance?” The rising pitch of Keith’s voice shows that any hope Lance might have had of calming the red paladin is out the window. “Look, I know you didn’t want me to be leader, hell I don’t want me to be leader, okay! But trying to become the new black paladin behind my back? Trying to replace Shiro by bonding with Black? That’s a new low, even for you, Lance.” Now it’s the blue paladin’s turn to be furious.

        “Are you shitting me right now Keith?” Lance’s eyes are blazing. “I’m not trying to become the fucking black paladin, okay! I’d never try to replace Shiro, unlike you.” Lance feels the point of his words dig into Keith’s heart, but doesn’t expect the similar stabbing sense of guilt that comes soon after.

        “I’m not trying to replace Shiro! I’m just doing what he asked me to do! Is that not good enough?” Keith’s eyes are filling with angry tears, and strangely, Lance feels his own eyes doing the same. They’re both breathing heavily, glaring at each other as silence permeates the room. “Well?” Keith’s voice is half a scream, half a broken sob, and Lance feels another pang of guilt.

        “Okay,  _ what _ is going on here?” Coran’s voice causes Keith and Lance to turn around to face the older Altean. “You two were shouting like a pack of wild yalmors! Half the castle could hear you!” Half the castle actually just meant a very concerned Coran and Allura, but Lance and Keith didn’t need to know that.

        “He started it!” The two boys say in unison. Keith and Lance squint at each other for a moment as Coran tries to assess the situation.

        “Now, now I’m sure there’s no need to—”

        “Did you know that Lance has been visiting the black lion?” Keith asks sharply, interrupting Coran. Keith sees a strained look pass between Lance and Coran and feels his heart sink in his chest. “You knew? You’re helping him?” Keith’s shoulders slump, unable to process that two of the people closest to him appear to be conspiring against him.

        “Keith it’s not what you think!” Lance protests. “And Coran has nothing to do with it!” Lance has to physically take a step back after he sees the fire in Keith’s eyes.

        “Then tell me the truth.” Keith is trembling now, clenching his right fist tightly. “If you’re not trying to bond with the black lion to become its new paladin, why do you keep visiting it?”

        “Her.” Lance says softly.

        “What?”

        “The black lion,” Lance says, brushing hair out of his face. “It’s a her.”

        “It’s a giant mechanical cat!” Keith shoots back, practically shouting. “It doesn’t have a gender!” Lance just shrugs, and that’s when Keith realizes that the blue paladin is simply avoiding the question, and rather successfully at that. “Whatever,” Keith continues after recollecting himself. “why do you keep coming back up here?” Lance gazes back at Keith with an emotion that can only be described as fear, which further confuses the red paladin. Lance looks back at Coran and then back at Keith once more.

        “I’m sorry.” Lance’s words truly seem genuine, which only makes them sting worse. “I can’t tell you.” Keith bites his lip, trying to stem the flow of tears that he knows will soon come spilling out of his eyes.

        “Coran? Do you have anything to say?” Keith sees Coran open his mouth and then close it before deciding that it’s time to go. He leaves the black lion bay in a hurry, ignoring the tide of tears as they start to stream down his face. He’d wondered since the battle with Zarkon if the team really needed him. If Shiro was the one who held them together, what more was Keith than a pathetic excuse for a replacement? Keith had refused to doubt himself, more for Shiro’s sake than his own. But now, as his feet slap the castle floor Keith wonders if his greatest fear has finally come true.

       “We have to tell him, Coran.” Lance says as soon as Keith is out of sight. “He has a right to know.” Coran regards the blue paladin for a moment, a little bit surprised, but somehow, also not.

        “Well you changed your mind rather quickly.” Coran  regards Lance carefully as the blue paladin struggles for a moment to come up with an answer.

        “You saw him, Coran.” Lance gestures towards the open doorway. “I just…” Lance trails off, only knowing his feelings, not the words with which to express them. “I’ve given Keith enough shit already. And I didn’t even apologize! I mean I’m not saying I’m wrong, I’m obviously still right. But it’s still good to apologize right? And now Keith thinks I’m trying to work against him and like replace Shiro or something and that’s the exact opposite of what I want and I just…” Lance is quiet for a moment. “I don’t want Keith to hate me.” Lance feels the weight of a thousand tons come off his chest as he speaks, but he’s not sure why. There’s deep feeling and meaning there, hidden in the cadence of syllables that Lance is only beginning to unpack. Coran decides to let him, figuring that the blue paladin needs to discover some things for himself.

        Lance’s words sit in the air for a moment before Coran responds. “Okay.” Coran forcibly claps Lance on the shoulder. “We’ll tell them all tomorrow. I think both you and Keith would benefit from some time to cool down.” Lance nods passively. “And Allura and I will be right behind you, don’t worry.”

“I won’t,” Lance says, even as he already feels anxiety creeping into his veins. “I just hope Keith will talk to me again.” It takes Lance a minute to realize that he’s said those words out loud instead of just in his head.

        “He will.” Coran gives Lance a reassuring smile, which Lance accepts gratefully. Even still, Lance can’t find it in himself to sleep well that night, tossing and turning in the darkness of his room. Down the hallway another paladin struggles to sleep, nightmares awakening Keith at varied hours.  _ God, I wish Shiro was here, _ they think in unison, although separated by thick metal walls,  _ let everything be okay _ . But for the time being, it isn’t.

…

       “And that’s pretty much it.” Lance rubs the back of his neck casually as if he hasn’t just revealed potentially having magical abilities as Hunk, Pidge, and Keith stare back at him in awe. “No biggie.” Pidge immediately explodes into a flurry of words, wondering about the biology and mechanics behind transfer of quintessence powers, and if it’d be possible to do that electronically. Hunk thanks Lance for telling them, sharing a semi-secret smile with his best friend. Hunk doesn’t say ‘ _I’m glad you figured out your weird visions_ ’ but Lance receives the message in Hunk’s gaze, and smiles back warmly. Which just leaves Keith, still staring at Lance, feeling a lot like an asshole.

        “So that’s why you kept visiting the black lion?” Keith’s voice is tinged with guilt, and, weirdly, Lance gets no satisfaction from the fact.

        “Yep.” Lance says in an attempt at nonchalance. He avoids eye contact with the other boy, instead electing to look at a speck of dust floating above Pidge’s head. Keith rubs the material of his gloves between his fingers.

        “Why didn’t you tell me?” Keith knows it’s an unfair question, but he asks it anyway. He now understands why Lance didn’t want to tell him the truth yesterday. But Keith still wishes that he had. Or rather, wishes that Lance would be more comfortable with talking to him, telling him that sort of thing. Something in Keith’s voice makes Lance turn and suddenly they’re looking at each other again, violet eyes locked with blue ones.

        “Sorry.” There’s no heat in Lance’s voice, only a cool melancholy that’s somehow worse than fiery words. There’s another moment of silent gazing before Allura clears her throat, trying to defuse the brewing tension.

        “Lance,” Allura’s voice is cautious. “I know you described the details of your abilities in great depth yesterday and just now, but I’ve yet to see you in action.” Lance anticipates her question and speaks quickly.

        “Alright let’s go.” Lance claps his hands together. “Class field trip to the black lion everyone! Let’s line up!” Allura’s brow furrows in concern and Pidge raises an eyebrow.

        “As long as you’re certain.” Allura’s voice is hesitant. “I was going to suggest that the others depart in case anything…happens.” Allura’s words are vaguely ominous, but Lance doesn’t let himself over think, and just acts.

        “It’s fine! Don’t even worry.” Lance’s stride is almost jaunty as he leaves the room, which only makes everyone more concerned. “Lets goooo!” The others follow in silence, and Lance doesn’t try to make any more strained jokes. Lance also doesn’t mention the possibility of the visions being the key to finding Shiro, and no one else does either, although they’re all certainly thinking it.  _ What happened to us _ , Pidge thinks as the sound of shoes squeaking against the floor echoes through the halls.  _ We used to be so loud, what happened to us? _ She knows the answer to her question, but refuses to think it out loud.

        When they reach the black lion bay, the paladins and Coran and Allura form a scraggly semi-circle a few feet from the claws of the lion. Lance had requested that they keep their distance while he was having his vision. Hunk had tried to protest based on his own experience in the bathroom the other day, but Lance had insisted, much to Hunk’s chagrin. And so they all watch Lance as he walks towards the black lion, for once filled with more trepidation than fear. Lance has a good feeling about what he’ll see this time. Okay, maybe not a good feeling, but it’s...different. He’s not exactly sure  _ what _ , per say, but it’s different. There’s a more intense energy coming off of the black lion. Lance can feel it, his heart racing. He’s going up the ramp into the black lion, but stops himself midway up, seemingly for no reason. Before he knows what he’s doing Lance is reaching up, his hand barely able to touch the top of the lion’s jaw.  _ Maybe my powers are kicking in fully? _ Lance doesn’t have a moment to think before his mind goes black, and the astral plane beckons.

        Lance has no idea where he is. At first he’d thought that the whole dimension was completely the same, but after Coran’s revelation of how the plane mirrored the physical world, Lance had remembered subtle differences between the different locations he’d visited in his visions. But he’s never been here before. There’s actually a semi-solid surface beneath his feet and the purple clouds are less dense, forming more of a vague swirling mist as Lance tries to take in his surroundings. A bit of moment catches his eye and Lance turns to get a proper look and pumps his fist.

        “Shiro!” Lance knows that what he’s seeing is probably just a memory or an apparition, but can’t bring himself to care. He managed to see Shiro on the first try with his powers, and that in it of itself is a victory for Lance. His joy quickly fades, however when he sees Shiro running. There’s no clear reason for the black paladin to be fleeing, but Shiro keeps looking back over his shoulder, as if being pursued. Shiro’s also limping slightly as he runs and Lance can see the paladin’s bayard is drawn, but down by his side, as if Shiro’s about to run out of strength to even hold it properly. “Shir—” Lance feels his words catch in his throat before the scene shifts. Again. And Again. And Again until Lance can only see flashes of purple and black and it feels like his body is ripping and contorting in all directions

        And then everything stops.

Lance is back on semi-solid ground. He’s in a different part of the astral plane, also unfamiliar to him.  The strange clouds are thicker here, and the pseudo stars are glowing more faintly, as if they’re further away. It’s also not an open plane anymore. He’s surrounded by tall, craggy outlines of rocks that create a labyrinth around him and Lance can’t help but throw his hands up in frustration.

“Great.” He shifts his weight from one foot to the other. “I just found Shiro and now I’ve lost him. Now what?” Unsurprisingly, he doesn’t get an answer. But he does hear something like a faint groaning coming from behind one of the tall rocks on Lance’s left. Lance cautiously makes his way around the rock, stepping gingerly and not daring to touch the rock itself for what little stability it might offer. Lance almost loses his balance, however, when he finally makes it around and sees Shiro, hunched over and leaning against another rock for support, clearly in pain. Shiro looks up and makes eye contact with the blue paladin and in that moment Lance realizes that it’s not a dream, it’s not a vision. He’s _seeing_ Shiro, wherever Shiro is, right now.

“Lance?” Shiro’s voice is more gravely than usual, but it’s definitely him, definitely real. Lance feels like crying.

“Shiro!” Lance walks towards the black paladin, but the ground is unsteady beneath his feet. At least until he realizes it’s not just the ground; the entire dimension around Lance is dissolving, everything, including Shiro, fading into nothingness. “Shiro.” Lance’s voice is garbled and he can feel the very essence of his body being pulled back to the real world, but he fights it, trying to stay with every last breath. Lance reaches forward and makes a strangled cry as the last vestiges of the black paladin disappear. And then Lance is falling.

        Falling, falling, falling.

_         Shiro! _

        Falling, falling, falling.

Lance waits for the inevitable end. For the impact at the bottom of the endless abyss. At the very least, the smack as his head hits the castle floor. But it never comes.

“I’ve got you.” Keith voice is soft in Lance’s ear and Lance notices the strong arms around him, keeping him from hitting the floor. He hears the vague patter of footsteps coming towards him, but they stop after a moment. “Give him some space!” There’s a strange anguish in Keith’s voice that Lance, in his dazed state, can’t understand. Keith gently lowers Lance to the floor before picking him up again, bridal style this time. “I’m taking him back to his room.” Keith’s tone brokers no room for disagreement and no one says anything, letting the two paladins leave in silence. Lance is a lot lighter than Keith thought he would be and Keith can’t help but grateful that he won’t have to worry about accidentally dropping Lance before they reach the blue paladin’s room.

        “I guess this is just like before.” Lance mumbles suddenly, breaking the silence. Keith’s brow wrinkles as he looks down at Lance, making eye contact. Lance’s eyes are hooded, but warm and Keith feels a jolt of electricity run through his body.

        “Come again?” Keith’s mouth is like sandpaper as he speaks.

        “When Sendak took over the castle,” Lance continues. “You cradled me in your arms.” Keith’s heart starts beating at a dangerous rate and now he wonders if he will have to worry about dropping Lance after all.

        “You remembered?” Keith barely dares to breathe as he waits for Lance’s response.  

        “How could I forget?” Lance has a small smile on his face, and Keith can’t help but smile back. Keith has to resist the urge to point out that Lance did indeed, forget, but instead treasures this moment, this vulnerability that Lance is finally showing him. It’s more than he could have ever hoped for.

        When they reach Lance’s room, Keith manages to awkwardly open the door with his back before laying the blue paladin down on the bed. Keith looks down at Lance and hovers for a moment, wondering if he should leave. Lance doesn’t say anything, but silently grabs Keith’s free hand, lightly tugging. Keith takes this is an invitation to stay and sits down on the bed, without letting go of Lance’s hand.

        “What happened?” Lance is barely audible as he speaks. There’s a worn tension in his voice, which makes Keith instinctively lace their fingers together. It calms both of them down, but Keith still needs to take a few deep breaths before he can answer Lance’s question.

        “Honestly, it was weird.”

        “That’s very descriptive, Keith.” Lance snickers at his own comment and soon Keith joins in, in spite of himself.

        “I’m serious, Lance.” Keith sighs. “You were just completely out. You couldn’t hear us or anything.” Keith has to pause. “And then towards the end, you started twisting in all directions, like you were having a seizure.” Keith can feel himself start crying and he doesn’t even know why. “And then you started screaming, right before you came back, you were screaming.” Keith grips Lance’s hand tighter. “Don’t you dare scare me again like that Lance. Don’t you dare!” Lance is surprised at the force of Keith’s words, but relaxes his face into a half smile.

        “I won’t,  _ Mullet _ . Don’t worry.”

        “Mullet!” Keith’s indignation makes Lance laugh again. “Your hair is getting pretty long too.” Keith takes his free hand and strokes the longer hairs at the base of Lance’s neck, which quickly cause a flush to spread up Keith’s face. “Well I-I should probably get going.” Keith stammers. “Let you get some rest.” Keith wants to hastily let go of Lance’s hand in embarrassment. But Lance isn’t letting his hand go. And maybe that’s not so bad. Maybe Keith doesn’t want to let go either. But alas, things don’t always go the way we want. Keith stands up, letting Lance’s fingers slide from his.

        “Thanks, Keith.” Lance’s voice is full of warmth and Keith ducks his head, trying to conceal the fact that his face is getting redder.

        “If you need anything, I’m just down the hall.” Keith says as he leaves.

        “Night, Keith.” Lance smiles as Keith turns around for a moment to look back.

        “Night, Lance.” Keith walks, not letting himself stop until he reaches his room and has shut and locked the door. He then jumps on his bed and buries his face in his hands.  _ How can I go from wanting to kill him to wanting to kiss him in less than a day _ , Keith wonders. He lets out a groan of frustration.  _ And I still haven’t apologized _ . Keith flops onto his back and looks up at the ceiling. His cheeks are still kind of warm, and Keith swears his hand is still feeling tingly from when it held Lance’s. “If only I knew what to say.” Keith mumbles aloud, to no one in particular. But little does he that down the hall Lance is asking himself a similar question, also still staring at his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this update took so long, y'all! This chapter ended up being a lot longer than I thought it would, and the crunch of Junior Year has been so real. I've already started working on Chapter 4, so hopefully it won't be so long till the next update!
> 
> Up Next: Lance has a crazy plan and Keith is Not Having It


	4. Plans and Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance has a new plan for harnessing his quintessence powers, but Keith thinks it’s too risky. Meanwhile, cryptic communications from the Blade of Marmora threaten to cause even more problems for the paladins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh long time no update. But !! school is out now so I'll be updating a lot more frequently ;)

 

   Keith closes the door to Lance’s room with a smile on his face, then sighs deeply when he notices the fluttering feeling still present in his chest. That feeling hadn’t gone away all throughout Keith nursing Lance back to health. Even though Lance had insisted he didn’t need to be taken care of, he’d accepted Keith’s ministrations and, as a result, the two boys had spent even more time together than usual. It was awkward at first, but after a few days Keith had gotten used to it. He had even began to enjoy his new routine of spending time with Lance, which had done nothing to quell his growing feelings for the blue paladin. Keith shakes his head before walking down the hallway. He refuses to think about Lance right now.

   The one unfortunate side effect of taking care of Lance is that Keith’s done little to nothing to take care of his other duty: desperately figuring out how to find Shiro. Keith has a sneaking suspicion that Lance still wants to use his new powers to help, but Keith’s already decided he won’t let that happen. He’s tried to play off his concern as that for a fellow teammate and friend, but he is beginning to figure out the truth for himself. Whatever he’s feeling for Lance, Keith would do anything to keep the other boy out of the danger. And out of danger means no strange, bullshit, quintessence magic, so Keith needs to come up with another plan. He’d attempted communications with the Blade of Marmora this morning but to no avail. Keith wasn’t entirely surprised by the lack of response but still felt a keen sense of disappointment when the communications monitor screen stayed dark. Now that he’s visited Lance, Keith thinks he’ll try again, just to be sure. Keith knows he’s probably on a fool’s errand, but he feels like he needs to try. Otherwise, he’d feel like he was doing nothing to help Shiro even more that he already does.

   Surprisingly, the control room isn’t unoccupied when Keith enters. Pidge is sitting on the floor, typing rather listlessly on her laptop.

   “Hey, Pidge.” Keith says. Pidge simply makes a noncommittal ‘mmm’ before closing her computer. “No progress?” There’s no hope in Keith’s eyes as he asks the question. He knew that Pidge and Hunk had been trying to devise an alternative tracking system for Shiro and that it hadn’t been going well. Pidge groans in response, confirming Keith’s suspicion.

   “I don’t even know what I don’t know, Keith.” Pidge replies frustratedly. “I told Hunk I needed to ‘get some air and think,’ but the truth is I still have no idea what I’m doing.” Pidge takes off her glasses to rub her eyes. “I’m sorry.” Keith shakes his head, and sinks into an awkward squat to look Pidge in the eye.

   “Hey, you’re doing your best. I can’t ask for more than that.” Keith offers a smile and Pidge manages a half smile back. “I just miss him.” Keith says softly. Pidge nods grimly.

   “I felt the same way when Matt first disappeared.” Pidge’s voice is barely audible. “I mean he didn’t disappear like Shiro did, but when they showed the TV broadcast that everyone on the Kerberos Mission was presumed dead…” Pidge’s voice wavers. “I didn’t know what to think or do. I just missed them so much.” Keith thinks for a moment before hastily pulling Pidge into a hug. It’s rushed and uncomfortable and Pidge is pretty sure some of Keith’s hair is in her mouth, but she’s grateful all the same.

    “We’ll get them back, okay.” Keith murmurs. “We’ll get them all back.” When Keith releases her, Pidge lets the widest grin spread up her face.

    “I know we will.” Pidge and Keith don’t have long to ruminate on their new-found determination, however, as Hunk comes rushing in.

    “Hunk, what’s the matter?” Keith asks, immediately standing up. Pidge follows suit, similarly concerned by Hunk’s haste.

    “You guys _need_ to come to the training deck.” Hunk says, panting. “Keith, didn’t you say Lance had to stay in bed for at least another day?”

    “Of course.” Keith’s brow wrinkles. “I mean how else is he going to be okay if he refuses the healing pod.” Hunk and Pidge exchange a look, but neither says anything.

    “Then you’re not gonna like this.” Hunk grimaces. “Come on.” He leads the other two paladins out the room and down the hall, Keith and Pidge buzzing with curiosity as to what’s happened. And so, of course, they don’t see an incoming text transmission from the Blade of Marmora:

**< New rebel group located with earthling leaders>**

…

    “End training sequence.” Lance says, sweat dripping from his brow.

    “Well Lance, you’re certainly back to full strength.” Coran calls cheerily from the control tower.

    “You’ve even improved!” Allura says with a smile. “You can defeat more than just level one!” Coran laughs at that while Lance rolls his eyes. Every time he thinks he’s got the best of the princess, she says something like that. “Looks like the cavalry’s arrived.” At her remark Lance turns around to notice Hunk, Pidge, and Keith bursting through the door, with Keith positively fuming.

    “Lance,” Keith’s tone indicates he’s in full lecture mode and it’s only then that Lance vaguely remembers the red paladin saying something about bed rest.“What are you doing?” Lance thinks _I’m done for_ , for a brief second before regaining his composure.

    “Just some training, Mullet.” Lance tries to pull off a wink but Keith isn’t amused. “What? You worried that I’m gonna surpass you and your giant knife?” Lance laughs in anticipation of Keith’s response.

    “It’s not a giant knife, it’s a sword!” Keith replies indignantly. “And you are supposed to be in bed!”

    “Relax, Keith I’m fine.” Lance waves the red paladin off. “Allura even complimented me!”

    “That’s not what I did.” Allura mutters to Coran,  bringing her hand to her forehead.

    “I don’t care! If you refuse to use the healing pod then you m—”

    “Okay I hate to be the voice of reason, always,” Hunk cuts in. “But if you two could stop fighting, don’t you have something to tell us, Lance.” Hunk gives his friend a meaningful look and Keith realizes there’s some kind of joke that he’s clearly not getting. Lance clears his throat nervously, and looks to Hunk and Coran for a moment. After they both nod their heads, Lance proceeds, but not before taking a deep breath.

     “So I was thinking,” Lance begins, making big gestures with his hands. “Now that I’m feeling better and I know we still haven’t be able to make contact with the Blade of Marmora and…” Lance trails off. “I have a plan. And I already know you’re not gonna like it, Keith.” Everyone turns to the red paladin, expecting another angry outburst.

     “Maybe,” Keith says quietly. “But I’ll still hear you out.” Everyone is surprised by the response—least of all Lance, now that he’s gotten to know Keith better. But it still makes the blue paladin pause for a moment. And makes him feel a little warm even though the room isn’t hot at all. Lance takes a breath before continuing.

     “So I was thinking about how we could properly harness my powers to track Shiro, and Allura gave me this genius idea about energy amplification.” Lance sees a question in Keith’s face so he explains. “You remember when we were on the Balmera and Allura used the castle’s crystal as an amplifier to heal the planet?” Heads bob as the entire room nods. “Well I thought I could use that, but in reverse. Like using the crystals of the Balmera as a super mega amplifier!”

     “Essentially, we think that the reason Lance is having trouble staying in the astral plane and navigating where he wants to go in it is because his connection on the ship through the black lion is too weak.” Allura adds. The princess thought Lance could use a little help and Lance gives her a grateful smile because he truly didn’t know what he was going to say next. “But by using the crystals of the Balmera, Lance could amplify the connection he already has, and perhaps stay in the astral plane long enough to make contact with Shiro and figure out where he is in our universe.” Allura crosses her arms, satisfied that her explanation is complete.

      “That sounds reasonable.” Pidge chews her lip pensively. “Have you done the calculations of how much energy transfer from the crystals you would need? You’d need those numbers to figure out if the amplification was even possible, as well as how long it might take.”

      “No.” Lance admits sheepishly. “I asked Hunk if he could look into it, but…”

      “I’m having a little trouble.” Hunk says. “You think you could help me out, Pidge?” Pidge nods brightly.

      “If I can’t do it, I’m sure I can write a program for it.” Her enthusiasm is infectious and Hunk smiles, in spite of the situation. Now everyone turns nervously to look at Keith, the only one who hasn’t reacted.

      “It doesn’t sound that bad.” Keith says stiffly. “I’ll think about it.” and with that Keith turns and leaves the room, at a loss for what to say, but sure as hell not about to reveal that to anyone. So of course Keith doesn’t see the hurt expression on Lance’s face as he leaves, convinced that the red paladin is angry with him.

…

       “I’m worried about him.” Keith finally says to the emptiness of his room. He’s been flopped on his bed for the past half hour, trying to take his mind off everything. In his wandering around the castle to avoid Lance, he’d discovered the message from the Blade of Marmora, much to his surprise. Keith had told Coran about it, and they’d agreed to not say anything to Pidge until they were sure the aforementioned ‘earthlings’ were her father and brother. Coran had managed to exchange some more messages with the Blade, who explained their selectivity of opening their communication channels due to increased Galra surveillance. They’d arranged a time for a proper video communication in a few days to explain the situation properly, and to potentially discuss an alliance agreement with the rebels in question. Keith feels awful for keeping the information a secret from Pidge, but he’d rather not get her hopes up for no reason. He knows he’d be devastated if he had false hope about Shiro, and he’d rather not make Pidge suffer as he had. He thoughts are finally interrupted, however, by a knock on his door. Keith has a hope and a fear that he knows who it is and hesitates for a second before opening the door. He’s not completely surprised when he sees Lance standing there, but feels his heart skip a beat nonetheless.

       “Hey.” Lance says, rubbing the back of his neck. “I uh know you’re probably stressed out I mean all of us are.” Keith raises an eyebrow.

       “Have you come here to stress me out more?” Keith laughs at the annoyed look Lance gives him.

       “I uh actually was wondering if you wanted to go back to the pool.” Lance tries to seem casual, but the nervousness in his voice is as obvious as crimson paint on a white canvas. “I know last time it wasn’t that relaxing and we got attacked and stuff, but now that we know it’s a weird Altean pool and there are no Galra trying to kill us maybe it’ll be chill?” Lance wrings his hands. “I mean if you don’t want to it’s fine it was just a suggestion.” Keith has to takes a second to collect himself before answering.

       “That uh sounds good.” Keith attempts to be nonchalant and fails epically.

       “Yeah?” Lance’s face lights up and Keith can’t believe that he’s the reason for the smile that creeps up Lance’s face.

       “Yeah I’ll just go grab my swim stuff.” Keith goes back into his room, his mind racing. _This is our chance to talk about earlier_ , he thinks as he rummages around for his swim trunks. _Do we even have to talk? Not this again._ Keith forces his self doubt down as he at least seizes his red shorts. “Coming!”

…

        After a blissfully malfunctionless elevator ride, Keith and Lance find themselves down at the pool once more. Lance at least makes the pretense of trying to swim by looking around exaggeratedly for the pool ladder but Keith sits down on the floor, making his purpose clear. Lance realizes this and sits down beside Keith, minimal distance between the two of them.

        “You told everyone.” Keith finally says, breaking the silence.

        “What?”

        “You told everyone about your plan but me and Pidge. How do you think we feel?” Keith knows he can’t really speak on Pidge’s behalf, but he’s angry, goddammit, and he’s willing to play a little dirty so Lance gets the message.

        “I told Pidge I was working on a new plan, actually,” Lance replies, looking anywhere but Keith. “But I said I didn’t want to give her the details until it was more certain, and she accepted that.” Lance clears his throat. “I actually didn’t wanna bother her ‘cause I know Shiro being gone has only added to the stress about her dad and brother, but don’t you dare tell her I said that.” Keith nods slowly.

        “And you didn’t tell me because I’m your rival.” Keith sighs. “And you still hate me.” Lance instinctively reaches for Keith’s hand.

        “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to freak out and worry.” Lance looks down and sees his hand on Keith’s and feels his cheeks heat up. He hastily lets go, but sees, does he dare hope, a flash of disappointment in Keith’s eyes. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about my visions while recovering.” Lance says. “And as scared as I am, they’re definitely the key to finding Shiro.” Lance feels his stomach sink as Keith lets out a long breath. “I was _in_ the astral plane with him, Keith! I could feel it!”

        “Look I’m not saying it won’t work,” Keith’s voice is firm, but not argumentative and Lance feels a sense of relief creep back into his mind. “But are you forgetting what happened with the black lion the other day? Lance, we can’t risk you getting hurt.” _I won’t let that happen,_ are Keith’s unspoken words.

        “Yeah that’s true.” Lance says softly. “But finding Shiro is our number one priority right now, and I can _finally_ contribute something to the team. I’d be crazy to not do this.” Keith fixes Lance with a hard look, and feels his temper flaring.

        “Oh cut the crap, Lance.” Keith says. “You think you can ‘finally’ contribute something? Do you really think you don’t do anything else for the team?” Lance wants to nod, but wisely decides against it. “You’re our sharpshooter! You’ve had my back more times than I can count!” Keith can feel the heat rising in his voice, but refuses to stop. “You literally found the first lion! The blue lion could have chosen any of us but it chose you! And without you, we wouldn’t even be here! So many people wouldn’t have been saved! How can you not value you that?” Keith feels himself on the verge of angry tears and takes a breath to try and calm himself. It doesn’t work. “I’ve already lost Shiro.” Keith says, his voice breaking. “I can’t lose you too, Lance.” Keith makes eye contact with blue paladin and Lance swears he can feel his heart stop in his chest for a moment.

        “Stop talking about him like he’s dead. Remember?” Lance replies, trying to diffuse the tension. Keith smiles, recognizing his own words being echoed back at him

        “Haha very funny.” Keith says. They both still have this strange feeling, however, and Keith quietly pulls Lance into a hug. They sit there for a moment and neither of them say anything. Neither of them _want_ to say anything. There’s a silent agreement of ‘this’, an unspoken ok, just let what’s happening be. But Keith maybe wants to start finding out what ‘this’ is. And maybe so does Lance. “So I guess we should go tell them.” Keith says when he finally breaks away from the embrace.

        “Tell who what?” Lance asks, cocking his head to one side.

        “Tell the others that we’re going ahead with your plan.” Keith can’t help but smile as he sees Lance’s face light up. “Come on.” Keith springs to his feet easily. He holds out a hand for Lance and Lance takes it without hesitation, perhaps holding on for a second longer than necessary when they’re both upright.

        “Let’s go.” Keith says and as they make their way towards the doorway Keith has a wonderful feeling of warmth in his chest that he hasn’t felt for a while now: hope.

…

        “Hey guys we’re doing it!” Lance announces loudly as he and Keith enter the common room where the others are chatting on the couches. Pidge looks up with interest and Hunk and Coran immediately stop their conversation on Altean culinary traditions.

        “Doing what?” Allura asks warmly, because for once she has a good feeling about whatever she’s about to hear.

        “I’ve agreed that we should go through with the plan.” Keith says. “I still don’t like the potential danger Lance is in.” Keith mutters. “But Lance believes he can get the job done, and I trust him.” Keith is surprised at himself as he says the words aloud, unprompted, as is everyone else in the room. “We need a lead on where Shiro is, and right now this is the best chance we have.”

        “And you’ll all help with the necessary precautions, so there’s no reason to worry.” Lance says cheerily, casually slinging an arm around Keith’s shoulders. Everyone nods tentatively, still not quite believing what they’re seeing.

        “Well if we’re all in agreement, I’ll contact Shay and the Balmerans and start making arrangements.” Allura says.

        “You get to see your girlfriend again, Hunk.” Pidge’s face lights up with a shit-eating grin.

        “For the last time, she’s not my girlfriend!” Hunk exclaims. “Can’t I just platonically admire a rock?” Lance and Keith both burst into laughter at that.

        “You need any tips from the pickup master, Hunk?” Lance asks.

        “Yeah sure, but where is he?” Pidge cackles at Lance’s indignant face.

        “Well excuse you, Pidge!” Lance exclaims. “Hey, do you guys wanna help me and Keith on the training deck? We’re gonna do some of those mind meld exercise thingies cause it might improve my ‘mental stamina.’ ” Lance puts air quotes around the last two words as a subtle roast of Keith’s words but for once the red paladin doesn’t rise to the jab. Hunk and Pidge exchange a knowing look, and Keith again feels as if there’s a joke he’s missing out on.

        “Actually we have to go uh gotta do some, uh, maintenance on our lions.” Hunk offers a weak smile as Lance raises an eyebrow. “Just some improvements we think are very uh urgent.”

        “Besides,” Pidge adds sweetly. “I’m sure you and Keith will be fine. Alone.” She readjusts her glasses. “Just the two of you.”

        “Alright, I guess?” Lance replies, somehow even more confused. Between Hunk’s nerves and the strange smile on Pidge’s face, Lance is certain something’s up, but decides to not press the matter further. “See you guys later.” Hunk and Pidge all but run out of the room, and Keith and Lance regard their fellow paladins curiously before heading out in the opposite direction.

        “That’s actually better.” Keith murmurs as soon as they’re in the hallway.

        “What?”

        “There’s something you should know, Lance.” Keith says. “There was a transmission from the Blade of Marmora the other day.”

        “Any news about Shiro?” Lance’s voice is so hopeful that Keith almost feels bad about telling him the truth.

        “No.” Keith says. “ But potentially about Pidge’s dad and brother.” Lance’s mouth forms a perfect ‘O.’

        “And you haven’t told Pidge.” Lance finishes. “Don’t wanna get her hopes up?”

        “Exactly.” Keith runs a hand through his hair and sighs. “And I’m trying to figure out if I should tell her or not. It just feels wrong to be keeping it from her.” Lance puts a sympathetic hand on Keith’s shoulder, doing his best to offer advice although he’s not quite sure what to do himself. They turn the corner to the training deck in silence, both just thinking for a moment. So of course they don’t notice Pidge and Hunk, eavesdropping from a few yards behind them.

        “Pidge?” Hunk whispers, looking cautiously at the green paladin.

        “Not the kind of confession I was expecting to hear.” Pidge mumbles.

        “Me neither.” Hunk says. “Me neither.”

…

        Later, after a long and surprisingly not that frustrating time doing mental exercise with Keith, Lance goes to look for Hunk and Pidge, and finds the two of them sitting by the kitchen counter, huddled over two cups of what’s maybe Space Juice.  

        “There you guys are!” Lance exclaims. “I’ve been looking all over for you!” Lance pulls up a seat, confused by the chilly atmosphere of the room. “What’s with the long faces?”

        “How was spending time with, Keith?” Hunk asks, deflecting the question.

        “Not bad, actually.” Lance says. Pidge makes a noncommittal ‘mmm.’

        “So you guys didn’t have any important conversation?” Pidge asks. “Share any secrets, maybe?”

        “Like what?” Lance tries to play it cool, but realizes he’s unleashed a storm as he sees a fury enter Pidge’s eyes.

        “Like refusing to tell me the details of your new plan? Helping Keith keep it quiet about the Blade of Marmora transmission?” Pidge is on the verge of shouting. “Secrets like that, Lance!”

        “I just found out about the transmission too, okay?” Lance snaps. “And what about Keith? Shouldn’t you be mad at him too?”

        “Oh I’ll get to him, just you wait!” Pidge fires back. “And at least Keith doesn’t have crazy powers that he won’t talk about.”

“Okay that’s not fair.” Lance says. “And I didn’t tell you about the plan for your sake I just…” Lance trails off and pinches the bridge of his nose. “And you feel the same way, Hunk?” Lance asks, turning to look at the yellow paladin.

        “Sorry Lance, but I’m with Pidge on this one.” Hunk replies. “If we’re a team we gotta work like a team, man. No secrets remember? We gotta be brothers!” Hunk revises after Pidge gives him look. “And sisters! Just siblings, okay.”

        “The point is we don’t want you to hide stuff, Lance. Whether it’s about your powers or you know _my family_.” Pidge’s voice wavers and suddenly Lance feels like a huge asshole.

“I’m sorry, Pidge. We just didn’t know for sure and didn’t wanna give you false hope.”

Pidge nods.“I get that I just…” Her voice trails off. “It still hurts.” Lance feels a pang in his chest at the pain in her voice and surges forward to wrap Pidge in a hug. Hunk quickly follows suit, the two forming an effective human sandwich around the green paladin.

        “Pidge, Hunk, you know you two are my best friends in the whole world, right?” Lance asks. “And that nothing, I mean nothing will ever change that?” Lance squeezes Pidge tighter. “I’m so sorry I hurt you. Both of you.”

        “It’s okay, Lance.” Hunk says. “Besides, I still need your pickup tips for our mission to the Balmera, remember?” They all break apart and burst out laughing at that.

        “So you are admitting that Shay is your girlfriend, then?” Pidge asks with a twinkle in her eye.

        “Or that, at the very least, you’ve got a thing for her?” Lance follows up. Hunk sighs, conceding defeat.

        “Okay maybe a little, but—” Hunk’s cut off by Lance proclaiming that he knew it, followed by Pidge indignantly exclaiming that she was the first one to figure it out. Pidge is almost tempted to make a teasing comment about Keith in retaliation, but she stops herself. As Lance laughs, there’s a new lightness Pidge sees in his expression. And whether Lance knows it himself or not, Pidge has a sneaking suspicion it’s connected to the time Lance has been spending with the red paladin recently. _Let him be happy_ , Pidge thinks as she decides to take the high road of imitating Lance’s voice in an annoying falsetto, _he deserves that much_. And as they all laugh together, Pidge can almost pretend they’re back on earth, joking around after another day of classes, not worrying about the fate of universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up next: We return to the Balmera, and there's good news and bad news.


	5. Contact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang returns to the Balmera, but Lance’s plan seems riskier and riskier by the minute. Allura and Coran’s suspicions about Lance’s powers continue to grow, and the need to find Shiro becomes even more urgent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two updates in rapid succession?? I didn't think it was possible either but here we are.

 

“It’ll be nice to visit.” Hunk muses, a smile on his face. They’re nearly at the Balmera now, and Hunk’s excitement has been growing with every passing minute as he thinks about seeing Shay again. Unfortunately, that also means the intensity of Lance and Pidge’s teasing has been steadily growing the entire trip, with even Keith joining in occasionally.

“Remember that we’re actually here on business, Hunk.” Pidge admonishes. “You can’t just cozy up to Shay the entire time.”

“Nobody here is doing any kind of ‘cozying up,’ okay.” Hunk replies indignantly. “So you can all calm down!”

“No one here except you. With Shay.” Lance high-fives Pidge as Hunk makes an exasperated huff.

“That wasn’t even that good, Lance.” Keith says, but the red paladin has a smile on his face.

“I didn’t ask for your opinion, Mullet.” Lance’s voice has no malice in it, however, and he takes the opportunity to playfully ruffle Keith’s hair.

“I gotta agree with Keith.” Hunk says, trying desperately to not comment on Lance’s obvious flirting.

“Et tu, Brute?” Lance asks, not-quite-mock tears in his eyes. Pidge doubles over in laughter while Keith just makes a confused face.

“Et what?” Keith’s brow just crinkles as he tries to figure out Lance’s reference.

“We’ll work on it.” Lance says, patting Keith on the shoulder.  

When the castle finally lands on the Balmera, Hunk is the first one out onto the surface. He looks around for any sign of the Balmerans, and quickly spots a large group walking towards the castle, with a familiar face at the front.

“Hunk!” Shay calls, her voice warm and full of honey. When she reaches the yellow paladin she puts a careful hand on his arm. “How I have missed you so.” Hunk beams at her.

“I missed you a lot too, Shay.” Hunk pulls her in for a tight hug and the two stay like that for a while, continuing to embrace as the other paladins walk past to greet the other members of the Balmeran welcoming committee.

“They’re already being disgustingly cute together, and we’ve only been here for like two minutes.” Pidge remarks to Lance.

“I know, right? Makes me feel even more single than normal.” Lance follows his statement with a weak laugh as well as quick sideways glance at Keith, both of which don’t go unnoticed by Pidge.

“We’ll just have to tease him later.” Pidge replies, her eyes narrowed slightly.

“Agreed.” Keith chimes in, completely oblivious to the unspoken conversation taking place.

“Princess!” Shay exclaims after she finally lets go of Hunk. She clasps hands firmly with Allura. “It is our honor for you to return to the Balmera once more.”

“The honor is all mine, Shay.” Allura face then becomes serious. “May Lance, Coran, and I conference with your grandmother and the other Balmeran elders?” Allura asks. “I’m still not entirely sure about this plan.” The princess confides in a whisper. “But Lance and Keith are dead set on it. And we need to find Shiro.”

“I will make it so.” Shay says, nodding gravely. “I understand why you seek us out, princess, but I confess the fear I have for the brave blue paladin.”

“I too am frightened for Lance.” Allura murmurs. “But we have no other choice. She raises her hand and waves Coran and Lance over before she has the chance to lose her nerve.

“ ‘Sup Allura?” Lance asks as he comes jogging over. “Everything okay?” Coran arrives shortly after, similarly concerned.

“Everything’s fine.” Allura assures them. “We’ll be talking with the Balmeran elders to discuss the specifics shortly.” 

“We are just wondering if you still have the desire to go through with this plan, Lance.” Shay says, coming to the princess’ rescue. 

“Of course I do.” Lance says firmly. “Everyone’s counting on me.”

“We just worry for you.” Allura says. _And I’m not the only one_ , Allura thinks as she sees the other three paladins anxiously gazing over at their conversation. She notices Keith in particular, with a distinct sense of longing mixed with fear in his gaze.

“Allura.” Lance’s tone brokers no room for argument. “I have to do this.” His blue eyes are hard chips of ice and Allura nods her understanding.

“Then we shall go meet with the elders.” As Shay leads the way, Lance takes a cursory glance back at his friends. His mouth feels dry and he tries smacking his lips, but to no avail. At the same time, Lance feels no doubt, not in the slightest. He’s made up his mind and he’s not letting anyone down again. Not Shiro, not the team, and especially not Keith.

 

…

 

“There are enormous risks to the feat you wish to undertake, blue paladin.” Shay’s grandmother says softly as she addresses not only Lance, but the whole council of assembled Balmeran elders. “You will have to draw on an enormous amount of your own quintessence. Even with the amplification effects of the crystals, it may be too much for your body to handle.”

“I’m strong. I can take it.” Lance’s voice is firm, and the Balmerans smile at his surety.

“Your fighting spirit is what makes you, blue paladin. That is not the issue here.” Shay’s grandmother lets her maternal protectiveness creep into her voice. “Because of the amount of quintessence you’re drawing upon, your consciousness may try to retreat to the Physical Plane as an act of self preservation. But if you go too deep, blue paladin, if you will tire yourself out too much…” She trails off. “You won’t have the strength to return to the Physical Plane.”

“And if you die in the Astral Plane,” another Balmeran adds. “You will also perish in the Physical Plane.”

Lance swallows hard. “I’ll be fine.” The Balmerans look at each other, impressed by Lance’s courage.

“Very well.” Shay’s grandmother concludes. “If you have accepted the risks, we will make our way upwards.” Lance makes a confused face.

“Now that you have made contact with the crystals here at the core, you should be able to access their power even from the surface.” Shay explains. “As did the princess, we will use the crystal of your ship as the focal point for the ritual.”

“And it will allow him to access Shiro’s lingering quintessence in the black lion more easily.” Allura remarks, thinking aloud. Shay nods.

“Exactly, princess.”

“Then what are we waiting for!” Lance exclaims. “Let’s go.” He starts heading down a tunnel, not even sure if he’s going the right direction.

“I just hope we do not send him to his death.” One of the Balmeran elders murmurs. Allura feels a pang in her chest and, not for the first time that day, she wonders if she’s making another grave mistake.

 

…

 

“Lance are you really sure about this?” Keith asks as Lance clears a place to sit beneath the castle. “You can still back out now.”

“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” Lance asks angrily. “Just shut up and trust me, okay?” Lance sees the hurt look in Keith’s eyes and immediately feels awful. “Sorry.” He mumbles. “I’m just stressed.

“Me too.” Keith says. “Good luck, Lance.” Keith feels like he should give Lance a hug or a pat on the back or something, but decides against it, for whatever reason. As he walks back to join the others where they’re standing a couple of yards away, Keith regrets that decision, but there’s nothing he can do now. Lance closes his eyes with firm concentration and, unbeknownst to him, a golden cloud of quintessence begins to form.

“He’s off.” Coran breathes, barely daring to speak. Keith nods solemnly, wishing more than anything that he could be there to help Lance.

 

…

 

Lance doesn’t know exactly where he is, because it doesn’t seem like the Astral plane. Everything is completely black, except for a single golden thread, a lone beacon in the darkness. Seeing no other option, Lance takes the golden strand in his hand and follows it, hoping if he concentrates hard enough it will lead him to Shiro. As Lance walks, the thread grows brighter and he’s able to see a little bit more of his surroundings. He realizes he’s in the Castle of Lions, and his mind starts racing. _The black lion bay_ , Lance suddenly realizes, _that’s where this is taking me!_ Lance picks up the pace, now certain of what he has to do. _I’m coming for you, Shiro_.

 

... 

 

“Is he okay?” Keith asks, the tight feeling in his chest growing. “That doesn’t seem...normal.” Keith gestures to Lance, whose body is currently suspended in midair, kept afloat by a large sparkling, swirling mass.

“That is simply the quintessence, Keith,” Shay starts. “Please do—” Shay catches Keith in a vice-like grip as the red paladin tries to lunge forward. 

“Let me go!” Keith cries, squirming. “Just look at him!” He gestures to Lance again, as the blue paladin begins twitching, Lance’s face clearly lined with discomfort.  

“Keith, disturbing Lance in this vulnerable state could be fatal.” Shay says. “I urge you to stay back if you care for Lance so.” Keith stops struggling and is instead frozen, shocked by the weight of Shay’s warning. Allura watches with wide eyes as well, regretting her choice to send Lance to the Astral Plane more and more with each passing minute. _Be safe,_ Allura thinks desperately, _be safe and help bring us Shiro_.

 

...

 

“Not again!” Lance exclaims as he starts tumbling through time and space once more. As soon as he’d reached the black lion and touched it, Lance had been immediately sucked into the Astral Plane, only to be taken back to their battle with Zarkon. Lance squeezes his eyes tightly shut, not wanting to see the images of his fellow paladins falling around him. Knowing his vision is from the past doesn’t make seeing it any easier. “Take me forward in time!” Lance commands whatever unseen entity is controlling his fall. In his mind’s eye, Lance pictures the Balmera and feels around for the crystals he knows are around him. Suddenly the Plane seems larger, and the falling less rapid. Lance manages a small smile to himself and reaches out for the power of the crystals again, with more force this time. _Take me forward_ , Lance thinks, _take me to Shiro!_ Lance soon regrets his wish, however, as the new strength of his power literally sends him hurtling forward, into another, terrifying part of the Astral Plane.

_Screaming_. Another jump forward.

_Blaster sounds, and sharp pain in his right arm_. Another jump forward.

_A bright wash of light and then nothing_. Another jump forward.

Lance lands with an impact, bringing up purplish dust as he crashes into the surface of a rocky planet with a big _whoomp_. After dusting himself off and looking around, Lance thinks the planet looks pretty similar to the one he saw Shiro on before and lets himself feel a little hopeful. Lance tries to summon up a golden connection tether, like the one he was able to create with the black lion earlier, but to no avail.

“I guess we’ll have to do this the old fashioned way.” Lance wonders if he shouldn’t have said that aloud, then shrugs. He was already expecting trouble in the Astral Plane. He sees what looks like a sort of makeshift path on his left and heads in that direction, deciding systematic exploring is likely his best bet. This turns out to be a mistake, however, when Lance ends up running straight into Zarkon.

         Or rather part of Zarkon. 

         After his initial shock, Lance realizes he’s looking at a large chunk of Zarkon’s armor, and that the path he observed was likely formed by the impact of the armor as it came careening into the rock. Lance looks around momentarily, trying to assess if there’s anything useful in the outcropping. He swears he sees a bit of movement, a flash of long white hair. But after waiting and listening for a few minutes, there’s nothing more, and Lance decides that he must have imagined it. He takes off in the opposite direction, eager to find Shiro and get the hell out of wherever he is.

 

…

 

Keith winces as he sees Lance’s body contort again. The twitching has escalated to outbursts of thrashing that are slowly killing Keith. Lance’s eyes remain closed, but the blue paladin clearly seems so afraid that it takes every ounce of Keith’s restraint to stop himself from going to Lance’s side. The other paladins are anxious as well: all the color has left Pidge’s face and she’s begun gripping Hunk’s arm tightly and Coran is has an arm around Allura as the princess balls her hands into tight fists.  _ Please be okay Lance,  _ Keith thinks, almost like a prayer, _ please _ .

 

...

 

      “Okay, again!” Lance says out loud, in an attempt to motivate himself. Blindly searching the planet had proven fruitless so Lance had decided to give using his crazy powers a shot again. He opens and closes his eyes for what feels like the hundredth time as he tries to consolidate a golden quintessence tether to Shiro, like the one he’d somehow created earlier. It doesn’t work. Again. Lance huffs, kicking a nearby rock in his frustration. “What was it that Keith said?” Lance asks himself, racking his brains for any possible solution. “Patience yields focus.” That mantra was one of the mental exercises he and Keith had tried back on the castle. Figuring it’s his best option, Lance takes a deep breath and proceeds to repeat the words under his breath. “Patience yields focus patience yields focus patience yields focus patience yields focus.” Then he stops. And closes his eyes.  _ Patience yield focus _ , he thinks. In his mind’s eye, Lance reaches out to the quintessence of all living things, concentrating and breathing until his mind latches onto Shiro. And when Lance opens his eyes, his palms are open and in his hands is a golden thread, shimmering like the stars miles above him. 

        Lance jumps in glee, pumping his fist in the air. After taking a moment to celebrate, Lance cautiously begins following the thread, treading carefully over the planet’s rugged surface. After a little while of walking, the string begins to grow taut, and Lance’s heart starts racing, unsure of what to expect.

“Shiro?” He calls out. Lance’s voice comes out weak and strained so he tries again, louder and with more confidence. “Shiro!” Lance keeps walking as he waits for a response. There’s silence for a few moments and Lance is just about ready to call out again when there’s a faint, barely audible response.

“Lance?” Shiro’s voice is weak and ragged but it’s definitely him and Lance’s heart soars.

“I’m coming Shiro!” Lance exclaims as he begins moving faster, taking less care and clambering over rocks with abandon. “I’m coming! Just hold on!”

“Trust me, I’m not going anywhere.” Shiro says wryly. Lance is about to ask why when he finally turns the final corner and spots the black paladin, lying on his side, armor torn, looking badly beaten up. Lance follows the final length of the golden thread and realizes that it connects to Shiro’s galra arm, which is currently cracked and coming apart in places. Lance’s throat tightens as he notices the wires poking out near Shiro’s shoulder and immediately runs to his mentor and friend.

“Oh my god Shiro, are you okay?” Lance kneels beside Shiro, who offers Lance a weak smile.

“I’ve been better.” Shiro smiles sadly. “You know I want to get out of this place so badly, but, believe or not, this is only the second time I’ve had this dream.”

“What?” Lance asks.

“Yeah. I dreamed once before that you were somehow here with me, and that you were gonna bring me back to the castle. This weird gold string wasn’t on my arm last time though” Shiro forces a laugh at that. “Maybe I just haven’t dreamed it again because I haven’t slept.” Shiro coughs and Lance once again takes in the awful damage sustained by the black paladin.

“Shiro, you’re not dreaming.” Lance says. “I’m real. I’m actually here. In the Astral Plane. With you.” Lance reaches down to put a hand on Shiro’s shoulder and Shiro jerks back from how real the touch is. Shiro also notices the golden thread dissolves at the contact. He squints at Lance, trying to reassess the situation.

“If you’re real,” Shiro starts. “How did you get here?” Lance smiles, realizing he’s getting somewhere.

“Allura and the Balmerans are helping me.” Lance says. “After you vanished, I somehow unlocked these weird quintessence powers and we’ve been trying to use them to find you.” Lance rubs the back of his neck. “This is the farthest we’ve gotten.” Shiro nods slowly, seeing that Lance’s story makes at least some sense.

“Assuming this is real, what is your plan to get me out then?” Shiro asks.

“Well, we were kinda hoping you knew where you were, and we’d come and get you in the Physical Pla…” Lance trails off as he sees Shiro already starting to shake his head.

“I have no clue where I am, Lance.” Shiro pauses. “And I’m not even sure if I’m still in the real world. I think I’m trapped in the Astral Plane.” Shiro sighs. “When I vanished, I experienced this weird quintessence connection with Zarkon, probably because of the weapon Haggar used.” Shiro’s brow wrinkles. “I remember fighting him in the Astral Plane, and then, nothing.” Shiro gestures around him. “I somehow ended up here and it’s been weird shades of purple ever since. I can’t even reach out to the black lion.” Lance looks down at Shiro sympathetically.

“I’m sorry. Black misses you too.” Lance is quite pleased with himself when he sees Shiro crack a genuine smile after that. “Do you think Zarkon’s still here? Alive or dead? I saw pieces of his armor when I was looking for you.” Shiro thinks for a moment.

“I definitely felt him fading, but I don’t know if he’s dead.” Shiro finally says. “And, since I haven’t been able to move, I have no idea if he’s still around. I’m hoping not though.” They both manage to laugh at that, in spite of themselves. Lance is quiet for a moment, then stands up suddenly, alarming Shiro.“Where are you going?”

“Nowhere.” Lance says the word like it’s a question. “Do you hear that?” 

        “Hear what?” Shiro asks. 

        “It sounds like someone’s whispering.” Lance whips his head around, trying to identify the source of the garbled words. “I think I should take a look around.” 

        “Just be careful, Lance.” Shiro says. “Team Voltron needs their sharpshooter.” Lance gives Shiro a firm nod, but can’t hide the huge grin that creeps up his face. 

        “You got it!” Lance’s eyes dart around the alcove with newfound determination, his mind racing. There’s definitely something. Something faint and Altean sounding, but it’s there. Now everything is golden and Lance can hear the voices louder and more clearly, and realizes they’re repeating a single word, over and over and over. By some strange intuition, Lance understands he’s hearing something ancient. Ancient, and powerful, from when this planet carried a civilization important enough for it to merit a name.  _ Could it be the name of the planet,  _ Lance wonders,  _ could it really be that easy, for once? _ Still utterly confused, he commits the syllables of the word to memory. He can only hope that his half baked guess is correct, but ,given the circumstances, that’s good enough for Lance. He sucks in a huge breath and opens his eyes, which he doesn’t remember ever closing. He’s also a couple feet further from Shiro than he remembers being, and looks around disorientedly. 

         “Lance?” Shiro’s concern is obvious. “Are you alright?”

         “I think I got something, Shiro.” Lance says. “Maybe a planet name.”

         “Maybe?” Shiro makes a skeptical face. 

         “We’re gonna get you out, okay?” Lance puts on his best confident voice. “Don’t worry Shiro, I got this.” Lance tries to take a step back towards the black paladin but immediately begins pitching and swaying. “Maybe I don’t got this.”Lance can’t even finish his thought as he feels himself fading, exhausted, and his powers well and truly depleted. He falls to the ground as if in slow motion, barely registering the smack of a rock against his ribs as he lands.

         “Lance!” Shiro screams. He tries to get up, but his broken body fails him, only letting him scrabble at the ground fruitlessly as he tries to get to the blue paladin. “Lance! Lance hold on!” Shiro’s voice weaves in and out of his hearing and Lance feels himself returning to the Physical Plane. This time he’s too exhausted to fight it, and instead lets it happen, allowing for his consciousness to fade. “Lance!” He hears Shiro call one last time, before everything fades to golden light and then eventually, nothingness.

 

…

 

“Lance!” Keith tries to surge towards the blue paladin, no longer giving a single flying fuck about Shay’s warning. Lance had been thrashing violently for few minutes now, still suspended by the quintessence cloud, and Keith had decided he’d seen enough. Just as Keith finally breaks free of Shay’s iron grip, however, Lance snaps out of his trance violently, landing hard on the surface of the Balmera. Then everyone is running, Keith and Allura leading the way as they all rush to see what state Lance is in. Lance is at least conscious, but he’s breathing heavily and trembling so hard that Keith can’t tell if he’s hyperventilating or not. He reaches Lance’s side in an instant and takes Lance’s hand firmly, trying to offer what precious little comfort he can. “Lance talk to me.” Keith says urgently. “Are you okay?” Lance shakes his head.

“Al-ba-dur.” Lance says insistently, suddenly sitting up and gripping Keith intensely. “Al-ba-dur.” Lance says again, the fervor growing in his voice. 

“I don’t understand.” Keith says aloud. “Lance, what’s happening?” Seeing that Keith isn’t taking in his message, Lance turns to Allura and Coran, and repeats himself, his voice almost fever pitch now.

“Al-ba-dur! Al-ba-dur! Al-ba-dur!” Lance is almost yelling now and it takes Allura a moment before she recognizes the name with a start.

“Al-ba-dur.” She repeats back firmly, nodding and hoping Lance will see that she understands him.

“Al-ba-dur.” Lance says with a weak smile, happy to finally have someone get his message. “Al-ba-dur.” He repeats himself one last time before his eyes roll back into his head and Lance finally passes out for real. 

Keith immediately begins checking Lance’s pulse and such while Coran and Allura just stand there, just looking at Lance and later at each other, seemingly in shock.

“What’s Al-ba-dur?” Pidge finally asks as Hunk and Shay go to join Keith in tending to Lance.

“It’s. It’s a very specific planet, in the uh Duodine Galaxy Cluster.” Allura manages to say.

“It was very important back in the age of Altea.” Coran says softly. “It was a sacred place, where it was believed every quintessence connection in the universe began and ended.” Coran steeples his hands. “Each Altean has a deep, almost spiritual connection with Albadur. It was meant to be a place of connection, as well as a place of refuge during dark times.” Coran looks down with those last words, fully realizing the irony of them. “I’m sure the civilization there is long gone now, but I know not if the planet still exists.” Coran shakes his head. “I haven’t the faintest idea how Shiro ended up there though.”

“Who cares!” Pidge exclaims. “We have a lead on Shiro!” 

Allura shakes her head, murmuring quietly to herself. “But Lance said it in perfect Altean? How would he know that? How would the quintessence communicate that?” She makes eye contact with Coran and they both make a mental note to have a discussion later. Whether their suspicions are correct or not, Coran’s now convinced that something other than quintessence is at work here, and Allura is beginning to agree with him.

“He’s waking up.” Hunk says as Lance begins to stir. Everyone holds their breath for a moment as the blue paladin blinks slowly.

“Am I dead?” Lance asks, clearly still dazed. “Or did I make it?”

“You made it, Lance.” Keith says, trying not to cry with the joy that he’s feeling. “You did it!”

“I did?” Lance tries to sit up but immediately starts swaying dangerously.

“Woah woah woah.” Keith admonishes, putting a stabilizing arm around Lance’s shoulders. “Maybe you should stay lying down.”

“Keith is right.” Allura chimes in. “We need to get you into one of the healing pods as soon as possible.”

“If I may, princess,” Shay’s grandmother says softly. “I do not think that would be the best course of action. If we could move him to one of the caverns, he may recover faster, and when it is first light, you may depart to locate Shiro.” She looks down at the blue paladin sadly. “This is not an ill that a healing pod can fix.”

“Then we get him down to one of the caverns.” Keith declares. “Do you think you can stand, Lance?”

“My heart says yes,” Lance replies. “but my legs say no.” Without any hesitation Keith braces another arm under Lance’s legs, scooping the other paladin up into his arms.

        “Why do I always end up carrying you?” Keith asks, half jokingly, half not as he lets Shay guide them.

        “You just like to show off.” Lance says, making Keith laugh. “Do you mind doing it?”

        “No.” Keith admits.

        “Good.” Lance’s voice trails off and Keith realizes the other boy is losing consciousness again.

“Shay!”

“We’re nearly there, Keith.” Shay gazes back at the red paladin solemnly. His deep care for the blue paladin is what’s making him anxious; she understands that. _They need each other_ , Shay realizes as she sees Keith push back a strand of hair from Lance’s face, _I just hope they both know that_. Unwittingly, her mind turns to thoughts of Hunk which she hastily brushes aside, reminding herself to remain focused on the task at hand.

 

…

After a good night’s sleep in the caverns, Lance is greatly improved and even up and about. He’s still leaning on Keith as he walks, using the other boy as a human crutch, but somehow Keith doesn’t mind. If anything, Lance is probably leaning on Keith a little more than he needs to, but that’s irrelevant. Lance’s cheer and the promise of a lead on Shiro has everyone in good spirits and eager to leave the Balmera. The only one hesitant to return to the Castle of Lions is Hunk, who tentatively looks over at Shay as the others collect themselves and get ready to depart.

“Uh Shay.” Hunk wrings his hands.

“Hunk.” Shay’s smile is as beautiful as ever and Hunk feels a pang in his heart. “I fear that it is once again time that you must depart.”

“I’ll come back.” Hunk reminds her. “Don’t worry.”

“You have never failed to return to me before.” Shay says. “I do not fear that will not come back.” Shay’s brow furrows. “But I urge you. Please take care, Hunk. Now that you can no longer form Voltron, you are all more vulnerable. You must take greater caution.”

“I will.” Hunk nods, trying not to cry. “I will.” Hunk holds out his arms and they share a quick embrace: shorter than their reunion one, and far more bittersweet.

“May we meet again.” Shay whispers after they break apart. Hunk is at a loss for words and simply makes to leave, waving at the Balmeran as he walks back towards the castle. Hunk feels a slight pressure on his forearm once the castle doors close and he looks down to realize that it’s Pidge, putting a comforting hand on him. Hunk knows this is Pidge’s way of saying ‘it’s gonna be okay’ and gives the green paladin a grateful smile.

“I know, Pidge. I know.”

 

…

“I still don’t understand.” Lance says from his position lying on the common room couch. “Why are we waiting a few days to ‘prep’ before we go find Shiro?”

“I’m honestly not quite sure.” Keith replies, looking up from cleaning his knife. “Allura said something about needing to find the coordinates for the specific galaxy in the castle archives. Not to mention that you’re still not in great shape.”

“I’m ready to go at any time.” Lance says, instantly sitting up and raising his fists. Keith raises an eyebrow, but says nothing. Secretly, he agrees with Lance. Keith’s sure there’s something Coran and Allura aren’t saying, but doesn’t know what. They’ve both been suspiciously absent since Allura announced the delay, and Keith has half a mind to go searching for them in the castle. He tells himself that he wants to finish cleaning his knife first, but part of him almost admits that he’s enjoying Lance’s company. That’s not something he would have ever imagined before, but sometimes things are full of surprises. Or rather Lance is full of surprises.  

Currently Allura and Coran are huddled together in the cryopod room discussing another possible revelation about the blue paladin. As much as Allura dislikes the room, Coran had suggested the location because it was fairly unlikely any of the paladins would go looking for them there, and Allura couldn’t argue with that.

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around it, Coran.” Allura admits. “Lance’s powers were already enough of a shock. I didn’t quite believe it at first.”

“But I don’t know how else Lance might have access to the name Albadur, even with the use of quintessence.” Coran muses. “Now I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but I genuinely think there’s a very real possibility that Lance could be at least part Altean.” Coran looks expectantly at Allura for a response, but the princess simply stares off into space. “I thought you’d be more excited.” Coran murmurs. “I know I am.”

“I know I know Coran I just…” Allura’s voice trails off. “After finding out the truth about Haggar, I’m not sure if I can handle finding any more secret Alteans.” The princess’ brow furrows. “I don’t know how we could prove it anyways. Lance showed up as completely human on the identity scanner when the paladins first came to the castle. I checked.”

“We could search the archives.” Coran says. “See if there were any successful expeditions to Earth or planets near that system.”

“Well that’s a start.” Allura decides after thinking for a moment. “We better get going then. But for now, let’s keep this to ourselves.” She says as they re-enter the hallway. “Lance has been through enough already.”

“What are we keeping to ourselves about Lance?” Keith asks, causing Allura and Coran to jump out of their skins. Keith had been looking for the two of them when he’d heard voices talking and had decided to stake out the room, much to Allura’s chagrin.

“I thought you’d said none of the paladins would come here.” Allura whispers angrily to Coran.

“I did.” Coran whispers back, equally annoyed.

“I’m still waiting for an answer.” Keith says impatiently. Allura and Coran make eye contact with each other, anxiously trying to figure out what to do. Allura makes the executive decision to bolt from the situation, with Coran following suit. Keith could run after them, but decides not to, instead electing to walk back to common room and sulk there. As usual he feels left out of the loop in regards to Lance, and Keith’s getting increasingly tired of that feeling.

        When he re-enters the common room, Lance and Hunk are chatting as well as Allura and Coran. Keith pointedly ignores the two Alteans and goes over two the other two paladins.

        “Where’s Pidge?” Keith asks.

        “By the communications monitor again.” Hunk says heavily. “She’s been checking it constantly ever since we got back.”

         Keith frowns. “But we’re not talking to the blade until tomorrow?” 

         Hunk shrugs.“I mean she’s here now, so you can ask her yourself.” At Hunk’s words Keith turns around to see Pidge at the doorway, looking shaky and slightly out of breath.

         “Pidge what is it?” Allura says from the back of the room, immediately concerned.

         “I just finished decrypting another message from the Blade of Marmora.” Pidge says.

         “Woah woah there’s another message?” Lance asks from his position beside Hunk. “And I thought the castle already had an auto-decrypter for the Blade’s messages.” Pidge nods.

         “Right, but they used a different encryption this time.” Pidge’s face twists. “It looks like some of their operatives were compromised, and now they’re not sure if they can continue negotiations with the earthling rebel group.” Pidge feels like she should probably be crying about that, but somehow can’t muster up the emotion to do so, only feeling hollowness inside. “The whole organization needs to lay low so for the time being they’re putting a pause on any communication in and out of the headquarters, including the video communication we were supposed to have tomorrow.”

         “This is bad.” Keith and Lance say in unison.

         “That’s not it either.” Pidge continues. “We might have another problem.”

         “Another one?!” Hunk cries out. “We’re at capacity! How many more problems can we handle?”

         “I don’t know.” Pidge admits. “But they’re saying a ‘Prince Lotor’ has returned.” Allura makes a strangled sound and the paladins see her face twist in horror and fear.

 “Paladins,” Allura whispers. “We need to find Shiro immediately.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up Next: Allura continues to be close-mouthed about everything, the paladins get thrown into battle again, and shit generally hits the fan.


	6. Don't Mess With Perfection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allura’s still reeling from the revelation about Lotor, which inadvertently causes more problems for the gang. Lance struggles to figure out his feelings for a certain red paladin and Hunk unwittingly becomes Keith’s relationship guru.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long since an update! I was on vacation and then was just super busy. I have already written the next few chapters though so get ready for a string of updates!!!

   “Allura’s still not saying anything about Prince Lotor?” Lance asks.

   “Nope,” Pidge replies, shaking her head. “Absolute zip.”

   Lance groans. They’re both sitting on the floor of the training deck, still sweating from the gladiator exercise they’d just completed. Lance had actually been searching for Keith when he sought out the training deck but was happy to hang out with Pidge. He figured it would take his mind off of the overall weirdness that had settled between him and Keith. They had changed after the trip to the Balmera, almost for the worse. Lance thought they had bonded during the trip, but Keith has since taken to disappearing for long stretches of time, almost as if avoiding Lance. Logically, Lance knows everyone is preparing for the rescue mission, and Keith is probably busy doing something important. But Lance’s intuition thinks otherwise.

   There’s something between him and Keith.The events of the past few days and weeks have made that clear. They’re more than just rivals now, and are certainly better friends. But that doesn’t explain the lingering gazes and hand touches that make Lance’s head spin. So Lance doesn’t know what that ‘something’ is, and Keith certainly isn’t helping him figure it out.

   “Lance? You alive?” Pidge’s clear voice brings Lance back to reality.

   “Yeah, what?” Lance rubs the back of his neck as Pidge gives him a quizzical look.

   “I was suggesting,” Pidge starts conspiratorially, “that we try grilling Coran instead of Allura.”

   Lance makes a negative gesture before she finishes speaking.“Coran’s busy repairing the crystals, remember? Allura wants us wormhole jump ready within a quintent,” Lance laughs, “He’ll either rope us into helping him or shoo us out immediately.”

   “Well, I’m going even if you don’t,” the green paladin says as she stands up.“Annoying Coran sure beats just hanging around.”

   Lance brings his hand to his heart, as if wounded.“Even with my amazing company and sparkling conversation?” Lance sees the twinkle of amusement in Pidge’s eyes, even as the green paladin feigns annoyance.

   “Lance, come on,” Pidge has to quickly move out of the way as Lance jumps up without warning. Pidge rolls her eyes before gesturing for the blue paladin to follow her, “Last time I saw Coran he was in the kitchen, so let’s start there.”

   “Alright,” Lance replies. He then frowns, and mutters to himself, “I just wonder where Hunk and Keith are.”

…

   “And you’re sure these enhancements will work?” Keith asks, for what seems like the billionth time.

   “Yeah,” Hunk says, holding a wrench in his mouth, making it sound more like ‘yrh.’ He carefully replaces the loose paneling on the red lion before removing the wrench to address Keith properly. “This isn’t the jet booster incident 2.0.”

   Keith’s cheeks flame as he recalls the debacle which left Allura and him stranded in space after he’d been overeager to increase their speed.“Hunk, do you really need to bring that up?” Even though no one else is in the red lion bay except for the two of them, Keith looks around, as if expecting an audience.

   “You’re the one who keeps worrying, man,” Hunk replies. “Besides, Allura thought we should beef up the lions since we can’t form Voltron, and you agreed!”

   Keith has to make a nod of concession there.“Okay yeah bu—”

   “And I already tried these additions with the yellow lion. You were there! They worked!” Hunk dusts off his hands dramatically, “Keith, I know you being galra and everything means you have different cultural customs, but us humans know never to insult a man’s craftsmanship.” Hunk waggles an admonishing finger.“Especially if they’re doing _you_ a favor.”

    Keith throws up his hands, but Hunk can see the tiny upward curl of his lips.“I can never get the last word around here,” Keith says, “And Lance is even worse than you.” Keith mentioning Lance randomly. Now that gets Hunk’s attention. Keith had already brought up Lance out of context twice, but Hunk was a good friend. He’d just let it slide. Probably coincidence. But three times? Hunk doesn’t believe in coincidence that much.

    “So how are things with you and Lance?” Hunk asks, trying to be casual. He turns around and pretends to be fiddling with parts to conceal his absolutely not neutral facial expression.

    “Why do you ask?” There’s none of the usual softness in Keith’s voice, instead a striking defensiveness, that catches Hunk off guard.

    “Just wondering.” Hunk says the statement like it’s a question. Keith clears his throat, making Hunk turn around.

    “Well, there’s nothing _to_ wonder about so just stop asking, okay?” Keith’s face is pinched as the angry words come out of his mouth, shaken in a way that Hunk’s never seen before.

    “Jeez, Louise! It was just a question.” Hunk shakes his head before pretending to return to working.

    “Who’s Louise?” Keith asks, his voice normal once more. Hunk looks back over his shoulder and gives Keith a withering look.

    “Never mind,” Hunk says, before turning away from Keith once more. Keith realizes his reaction was a little out of line and sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

    Sometimes, Keith feels like he doesn’t know how to deal with people or how to stop himself from saying something that could hurt somebody. First, he was messing things up with Lance by not talking to him, and now, he’s messing things up by talking _to_ Hunk. _Hopefully, Pidge isn’t next_ , Keith thinks sadly.

    “I’m sorry, Hunk,” the red paladin finally says, “It’s not your fault. It’s just that Lance is…” Keith’s voice trails off as he chooses his next word carefully, “complicated.”

    “In what way?” Hunk asks. He makes to sit on the floor and motions for Keith to do the same so that they’re sitting across from each other in front of the red lion.

    “I’m not sure,” Keith deflects, not knowing how to phrase his actual answer, “It’s hard to explain.”

    “Just try.” Hunk opens his hands in a welcoming gesture, trying his best to make his friend more comfortable.

    “Well, we’re rivals,” Keith begins, deciding that’s a safe enough opening, “and he’s always made that very clear. Even if I don’t always understand it, he’s right. We are rivals. End of story.”

     “But...” Hunk says. “I’m sensing a ‘but’ here.”

     “But,” Keith concedes, “lately, we’ve been working so well as a team. We help each other out. We hang out. I like hanging out with him.” Keith sighs, “Sometimes, I can almost forget that we’re supposed to be rivals.” Keith’s eyes widen, “I mean that we _are_ rivals.”

     Hunk notices Keith’s slight slip up, but decides to not comment on it.“And this is complicated because…” Hunk purposefully trails off, leaving Keith to fill in the blank on his own.

     “Because I wish it could be like that all the time!” Keith exclaims, not realizing the emotion that he’d been holding in, “I mean I like competing with Lance. I like messing with him, and I like throwing space snowballs at him.” Keith looks down at the floor. “I just wish we didn’t have to be ‘rivals,’ you know.” Keith takes a deep breath. “Lately, I’ve seen another side of Lance. A more vulnerable side that I guess I didn’t realize was always there. And….” Keith pauses, “Sometimes, I feel like the whole ‘rival’ thing is a big wall between us. It makes it weird when things are good, so it makes me avoid Lance.” Keith finishes, not trusting himself to say anymore.

      Keith’s confession makes Hunk feel awful for prying, but the yellow paladin now feels a great sense of duty to help his friend. Both of his friends. He knows that by helping Keith, he’ll also help Lance.

      “Lance does put up a lot of walls,” Hunk admits, “I’m his best friend, and even I know there are walls he puts up around me.” Hunk notes the surprised expression on Keith’s face. “Lance has more stuff going on than he says, Keith,” Hunk counsels, “so if you feel a little shut out, don’t blame yourself.”

      Keith nods.

      “But also don’t blame him, either.” Hunk says.Keith cocks his head to one side, more than a little confused.

      “Walls exist for self-protection, Keith. Maybe, Lance is as unsure of your relationship as you are. That’d be a reason for the walls.” Hunk realizes a moment too late that he used the word ‘relationship,’ but Keith seems to not notice, simply nodding pensively.

      “I’ll help with the walls, then.” Keith doesn’t elaborate on that statement at all, leaving the pair in echoing silence. Hunk puts a hand on Keith’s knee, giving him a half pitying, half knowing look.

_I just hope they’ll be okay_ , Hunk thinks solemnly.

…       

 

      Allura wakes up with a sickening feeling in her stomach, which doesn’t go away throughout the entire morning. Even as the set time for the wormhole jump grows ever closer, Allura is scarcely thinking about it. She’s thinking more about who’s also potentially on the other side of the wormhole. Or what, more exactly.

      Lotor.

      Ever since Pidge had mentioned the name from the Blade of Marmora transmission, Allura had found it difficult to sleep. As with Haggar, the past had continued to betray her. Even now, Allura finds it difficult to believe Lotor’s still alive, and has to reconcile what she knew of him with what he must be now. As she makes her final preparations for the mission, Allura recalls the first time she met the prince.

...

_It was a few days after Zarkon had officially been declared the new black paladin of Voltron. It had been shocking to many that the new black paladin wasn’t Altean, as historically had been the case, but her father welcomed the Galran emperor with open arms, eager to strengthen the alliance that existed between their peoples. When Lotor himself had arrived to the Castle of Lions, he was a foot shorter than Allura with a slight build and warm yellow eyes. He tried to make an awkward bow to Allura after learning she was the princess, but he lost his balance and nearly fell over. Lotor had been incredibly embarrassed but managed a toothy smile when the princess returned the favor._

...

       Allura shivers as more memories flit into her mind unbidden, particularly one of sparring with Lotor in a combat ring. She’d been surprised by the small Galran’s strength and impressed by the ferocity of his fighting. They’d laughed it off after the combat eventually ended in a draw and walked back to the Altean castle together. In hindsight, Allura curses herself for not sticking her war staff through Lotor’s chest right then and there. But he had been a visiting dignitary, and later a friend.

        How was she to know that she’d awaken to Lotor pressing a blade to her throat the night Zarkon betrayed her father?

       “Princess?” Coran flinches as Allura nearly jumps out of her skin. He was trying to gradually rouse the princess from whatever reverie she’d been having but had clearly been unsuccessful. “Everything’s prepared for the wormhole jump. We’re just waiting on you.”

        Allura looks around to see the four paladins all sitting in their flight seats in the control room, looking at her with concern. Allura smooths down her suit unnecessarily, trying to assume an air of nonchalance.

       “Alright! Let’s go!” Allura exclaims, trying to sound more excited than apprehensive. She puts her hands on top of the round controllers, trying to focus all of her energy into connecting with the castle to make the fantastical jump through space and time. Allura’s years of practice and precision betray her, however, as Lotor enters unbidden into her mind once more, making Allura hesitate, even as the castle is beginning to travel through the wormhole. It’s half a millimeter of movement away from the controls but it’s enough for the castle to register, throwing off the course Coran had entered ever so slightly.

 

        And slightly, of course, means the wormhole opens up several galaxies away from its intended destination, depositing the castle straight into a squadron of Galra fighters.

…

        Alarms blare as Allura struggles to get the particle barrier up, the castle making an ominous rattling noise as it continues to sustain rapid hits.

        “Normally, the Galra find us,” Lance says, “but today, we found them?”

         Allura doesn’t even respond, her mind racing. She knows it’s her fault they were brought off course. She’ll take responsibility for the attack that’s happening. She won’t have it any other way.

        “Alright, guys. We should get to our lions.” Keith says, “Let’s show them what we’re made of!”

         Lance makes a whooping noise followed by a fist pumping motion, which draws a smile to Keith’s lips.

        “No need!” Allura declares firmly, “I’ll handle this.” With a decisive hand motion she gets the particle barrier to finally activate, destroying several fighters that get caught in it. Before anyone has a chance to argue, Allura pulls up the castle’s multi-firing gun, and locks it onto each of the fighters. With one slight hand motion, she presses a button, causing all of the fighters to explode into fiery bits. Allura dusts her hands off casually, trying to hide the trembling of her fingers. “See,” she forces a smile at the flabbergasted expressions on Lance and Keith’s faces, “Nothing to worry about.”

        “I hate to interrupt, princess,” Coran says, pointing past the remains of the fighters, “but that’s not entirely true.” Everyone turns towards the front of the ship and realizes to their horror that a Galra cruiser has jettisoned into view, clearly the source of the fighters. The vessel is larger than any of the standard cruisers they’ve seen in Zarkon’s fleet, and Pidge quickly reaches the conclusion that it’s a new design, completed since their definitive battle with Zarkon. The standard issue ion cannon is more heavily reinforced, there are more panels for defensive guns to slide in and out of, and the shield generator has been relocated to the more heavily protected front of the ship.  Allura is visibly shaken by its appearance, but her continuing guilt over the attack quickly springs her back into action.

        “Hunk, Pidge, see if you can jam the communications coming in and out of that ship. We can’t let Galra central command know where we are, or we could lead them straight to Shiro.”

        “Copy that,” Pidge says, gesturing to Hunk to get in their lions.

        “Lance and Keith, you mount an attack on the ship’s shield generator and see if you can take out its ion cannon,” Allura continues, “Coran, get on the castle’s guns and see what damage you can do. I’ll help you with providing cover fire for the lions.”

        “Rodger that!” Coran quickly assumes his post, and Allura fiddles with a screen beside him, activating the castle’s targeting missile system. As all the paladins make their way into space, they all can’t help but wonder if they’ll ever make it to Shiro or if there’ll be something stopping them every time.

…

         “Lance! On your left!” Keith yells down the comms, simultaneously taking out the fighters threatening the blue paladin with a well aimed fire blast.

        “Thanks!” Lance says cheerfully, “I’m still having no luck with that shield generator though. Between the fighters and the ion cannon, I can’t get close enough.”

         Keith regards Lance’s words carefully before coming to a decision.“Okay, you focus on hitting that generator with all you’ve got. I’ll cover you and get those firing beams away from you.” Keith hears Lance’s intake of breath to protest before he hears the blue paladin’s words.

        “But you’ll be in way more danger that way!” Lance feels a sudden rush of concern, and it’s unlike anything he’s ever felt on a mission before. It’s more intense and sharp, but he doesn’t have a second to spend figuring out why.

        “Red is faster, and you’re a better shot than I am,” Keith says firmly, brokering no room for argument. “Just trust me!” He flies away from Lance without waiting for a response, instantly drawing a trio of fighters to him. Lance follows suit, speeding towards the shield generator with newfound determination and fervor.

        Both of which have nothing to do with Keith’s compliment about his shooting skills, of course.

        Meanwhile in the control room, Allura and Coran are sweating as they struggle to get the situation under control. _It seems like the castle’s defenses are perpetually depleted,_ Allura thinks bitterly as the all too familiar flashing red bars start to appear on the screen in front of her, _if only our best weapons weren’t thousands of years old_. Allura shakes her head, not allowing herself to dwell on what can’t be changed. That’s already cost her once today.

        “Pidge, Hunk,” Allura says, “How are you getting on?”

        “Green’s cloaking device got us in,” Pidge whispers down the comms, “but I haven’t found a way to keep their communications down without manually inserting a hard drive in the mainframe computer on board.”

        “Try smashing it?” Allura suggests, with all the grace and certainty befitting her royal status. “Just do what you can, Pidge.”

        “Allura are you still giving us cover?” Hunk asks. “On my scanner it looks there’s a group of fighters heading towards the underbelly of the ship.”

        Allura curses under her breath, immediately recognizing her oversight once it’d been pointed out to her. “Sorry, Hunk,” she quickly pulls up another screen and taps a few buttons, “I’m sending several tracking missiles your way.”

        “Copy that,” Hunk says. “I see them!”

Satisfied that Hunk and Pidge are safe, Allura (hesitantly) activates communications with the newly christened dynamic duo.

        “Keith, two fighters, six o’clock,” Lance’s voice is loud but calm, and Allura smiles, sensing that she doesn’t need to worry.

        “I see them,” Keith says, firing off two blasts in rapid succession, “Aren’t I supposed to be the one covering you?” Keith can’t help the smile that creeps up his face, even in the heat of battle.

        “And you’re doing a great job since I haven’t died yet,” Lance replies dryly, but he also feels a smile threatening to quirk up his lips, “I’m going around for another pass at the generator, so make sure nobody sneaks up on me from the other side of the ship.”

        “Alright alright, _Lazer Brain_ ,” Keith says. Allura ponders this new nickname as she watches the red and blue lions, not knowing that Keith had come up with it some time before, when Lance was healing from his first attempt to find Shiro through the black lion. “Lance watch ou—”  Keith’s voice suddenly cuts off and Allura’s heart leaps in her chest as another gun extends from the bottom of the ship, aiming straight at the blue paladin.

        Lance hears the warning and begins to fly even faster, risking crashing into the very generator he’s trying to destroy. He doesn’t know if Keith will reach the gun in time before it fires on him, but Lance can’t think about that now. All he can think about is the ventilation hole he’d spotted in the generator earlier and how the perfect shot would light a spark inside the generator, blowing it up completely and allowing the castle to go loose on the ship. Lance practices in his mind’s eye. He envisions the successful shot over and over again before channeling all his energy into Blue, focusing and aiming before finally pulling the trigger on the lion’s firing mechanism. It’s not the full blast that Blue can usually generate, but a thin, concentrated beam of white fire that hits its target directly. A moment passes and Lance thinks that he’s failed, but suddenly shield generator flares, lighting up. Then, it explodes. The purple particle shield shatters instantly, and Lance lets out a breath that he didn’t realize he was holding.

        “I did it,” Lance whispers, more to himself than to anyone else on the comms.

        “Heck yeah you did!” Keith exclaims, startling Lance slightly.  “That’s my sharpshooter!”

        And at that moment, Lance is eternally grateful that the video communications aren’t up, so Keith can’t see how ridiculously happy he is. And in that same moment, Keith is also eternally grateful that video communications aren’t up, so Lance can’t see the flush that creeps up his cheeks at his accidental use of ‘my.’

        “Pidge and Hunk, are you clear?” Allura asks as Keith and Lance race away from the ship. She’s itching to unleash the castle’s firepower on the Galra cruiser but needs to make sure all of her paladins are safe first. She breathes a sigh of relief as the yellow and green lions come whizzing into view from the far side of the ship, both unharmed.

        “We’re clear!” Pidge declares firmly. With barely a nod to Coran, Allura redirects full power to the castle’s frontal attack systems.

        “Ready to fire!” Coran declares. Allura eagerly slaps the button, feeling a twisted sense of pleasure as the Galra ship is pummeled into oblivion. She feels no guilt from her destruction, only from her initial mistake that endangered her friends in the first place. She thought she’d feel absolved after the attack, but her unquenchable thirst for perfection drilled into her by years of war only continues to make her feel worse, especially when the paladins come staggering back into the control room, each looking worse for wear but with un-dampened spirits.

        “I’d say mission accomplished!” Lance exclaims, “don’t know about you guys.”

        “Yeah, great job out there everyone,” Keith adds, “Especially you, Lance.”

        Pidge can’t help but roll her eyes as a visibly flustered Lance tries to respond. _Whatever’s going on with those two,_ Pidge thinks, _they need to get their shit together_.

        Allura barely notices the scene in front of her, however, as she struggles to string words together herself. Her mistake still turning over in her mind, she feels as if she should say something, at the very least, to acknowledge her fault for the unnecessary danger they were in. Allura knows that’s what her father would have done.

        “I’m…” Allura starts, then falters, causing everyone else to look at her. She considers staying silent for a moment, but presses on “I’m sorry, paladins. And Coran. I made a mistake when making the wormhole, and that’s what threw us off course. If it hadn’t been for me, you wouldn’t have been in danger.” Allura receives only blank looks and feels like she should add something more, but fails to come up with anything. She simply mumbles “I’m sorry” once more.

        “Allura what are you talking about?” Hunk asks, finally breaking the silence. “Whatever happened wasn’t your fault!” Various cries of assent appear throughout the room, “Besides, you were the one leading us out there! You totally saved us!”

        “Yeah! Don’t sell yourself short!” Pidge adds.

        “Nobody’s perfect,” Lance says.Keith nods his agreement as does Coran.

        “Indeed,” The older Altean affirms. Allura takes a moment, overwhelmed by love and support. She doesn’t quite know how to respond, mostly because she knows the comments are genuine, not the sugar spun words of diplomacy she grew up with. She manages a smile.

         “I suppose you’re all right. Thank you.”

…

        After a mostly unanimous vote (during which Allura’s protests were vetoed), the group agrees to wait till the following morning before attempting to wormhole to Shiro’s actual location. To avoid any potential reinforcements of the felled Galra cruiser, Coran turns all the turbo blasters of the ship to full power, thus providing a speedy get away without forcing Allura to make another portal. Allura, exhausted, retires to her room shortly after, eager to get some sleep. Pidge and Hunk mysteriously disappear (something that’s been happening with increasing frequency, Lance notices), leaving Lance alone with Keith. Not that either of them minds much. Keith realizes how much he’s missed ‘this,’ whatever ‘this’ is as he walks with Lance. They amble down a castle corridor, not really having a destination in mind.

        “I still can’t believe that shot you pulled off,” Keith finally says, breaking the silence, “You _need_ to teach me how to do that!”

Lance rubs the back of his neck, his cheeks warm.“You can’t teach perfection, Keith,” Lance’s voice has a boastful tone, but Keith can tell from blue paladin’s eyes that Lance’s heart isn’t really in the jest. “Besides,” Lance continues, more quietly than before, “It was a lucky shot. I mean really, it was Blue doing the shooting, so she should get the credit.” Lance adds a short laugh to the end of his sentence to lighten his words, but he’s surprised to see Keith shaking his head emphatically.

        “Lance, you have a gift! It wasn’t a lucky shot,” Keith takes a moment to remember his conversation with Hunk about walls. “Look, Lance.” Keith takes a breath.“I’m sure you have a reason, but you shouldn’t put yourself down. Or feel like you don’t matter to the team. Because you do matter! You matter a lot.”

        Lance stops walking and turns to face Keith.

        “You matter a lot to me.”

        Lance looks hard at Keith, and Keith swears he can see the faintest traces of water in the blue paladin’s eyes.

        “You didn’t remember me from the garrison,” Lance says softly, “which is funny cause I have such a vivid memory of you from the first day of class.” Keith opens his mouth to speak, but Lance holds out a hand for pause. “Imagine this, Keith. You’re starting your first day at an elite space training academy. Half your family doesn’t understand how you got in, and even you barely understand. And then, as if you didn’t feel out of place enough, you immediately get singled out for a competitive simulator exercise, only to be told that you should fly more like pretty boy Kogane over there.” Lance’s eyes have clear angry tears now, “who’s freakin brother is a pilot and probably trained him since birth and—”

        “Lance,” Keith interrupts, his voice also thick with emotion, “I lied.”

        “What?” Lance is utterly confused by Keith’s statement, his brow furrowing.

        “I remember you from the garrison,” Keith sighs, “I remember that first day pretty well too.” Keith thinks for a moment, “I also remember a day a few months into the program. You remember when we started doing practical weapon training ‘just in case.’ Just basic hand to hand and practice with airsoft guns cause they wouldn’t give us the real deal?”

       Lance nods.

       “You were the best! Nobody knew how you did it, but you hit every target dead in the center. _And_ you were faster than anyone else. Even Iverson couldn’t say anything!”

       Lance smiles as the memory comes back to him.

       “Anyway, I thought it was so cool I wanted you to teach me. To shoot like that,” Keith continues, ignoring the way Lance’s jaw drops at his words, “But you wouldn’t talk to me after what happened the first day.” Keith looks down, unable to maintain eye contact. “I can’t really blame you, but I was pretty sure you hated me. So I never mentioned the sharp shooting.” Keith swallows hard, “and then, when I got booted from the garrison, I felt like I should at least say something before I left. I don’t know what I was thinking.” Keith tucks a stray strand of hair behind his ear, “But when I went to your room, all I heard was you telling Hunk how happy you were that I’d gotten kicked out. Cause that way you wouldn’t have to compete with me anymore. And you’d be fighter class again.”

        Lance feels an overwhelming sense of shame and embarrassment as he remembers that night as well.

        “So when I saw you again when we saved Shiro,” Keith says, “ I thought it’d be better to pretend not to know you. To make things easier.” Keith shakes his head. “Like I knew we’d be living together for the foreseeable future,” he adds ruefully.

        “I never knew that,” Lance says dumbly as he struggles to process all that he’s just heard, “I’m sorry, then.”

Keith immediately shakes his head. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for,” Keith replies, “I just hope you understand how important you are.” A strange instinct makes Keith put his hand on Lance’s shoulder, and suddenly, both of the paladins are quite aware of how close together they’re standing. “I was never against you, Lance,” Keith says, “I never was and I don’t ever want to be.”

        “How come?” Lance’s voice is a whisper as he barely dares to breathe, realizing how easy it would be to bridge the distance of just a few inches and put his lips on Keith’s.

        “I care too much.” Keith replies, his heart thudding in his chest. They both lean forward slightly. Not enough to close the gap, but enough to signal something. Enough for Lance to feel Keith’s warm breath tickling his face and enough for Keith to have to readjust his hand on Lance’s shoulder in order to stand comfortably. And enough for Lance, unwittingly, to think to himself _god, I’m in love with Keith_.

        This backfires, unfortunately, as a loud sound from the end of the hall causes the paladins to spring apart, Keith taking his hand off Lance as if he’d been burned by a hot iron. On one hand Lance feels an incredible sense of relief as the tension of the moment is instantly dissolved, but also feels an incredible sense of disappointment. Because he finally understands! He’s finally figured out why he likes spending time with Keith. Why he’d been so jealous of Allura and why he’d felt his heart constricting in his chest when Keith put himself in danger in the battle.

        

         He almost figured out what it would be like to kiss Keith, another thing he now knows he wants.

 

        “We should probably hit the hay,” Lance finally says, his throat still dry, “Another big day tomorrow.”

        “Yeah,” Keith nods dazedly, “Yeah, yeah that’s a good idea, yeah.” Keith clears his throat. “I guess I’ll go shower. See you later, Lance.” Keith begins walking away, and Lance feels a strange sense of lacking closure. Nothing had happened, but there had been a something that happened. And Lance doesn’t quite know what to do with that, other than to say one final thing to Keith.

        “Hey,” Lance calls, causing the red paladin to whip his head around. Keith has a smile on his face, which gives Lance a warm fluttering feeling in his stomach, “You ready to go save Shiro?” Lance smiles back as Keith nods, his face firm.

“I’m ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up Next: They finally find Shiro (no click bait I promise!), everybody cries, and Keith has a moment™


	7. The Decisive Head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team finally finds Shiro, but things may not go back to normal for a while. Lance’s powers grow stranger, and Keith realizes things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised updates would be forthcoming and I actually delivered!! (for once)
> 
> companion playlist for this chapter can be found [here](http://polaroidpidge.tumblr.com/post/163114237010/the-decisive-head-a-mix-for-the-wayward-black)

“This is it?” Lance asks, the disbelief evident in his voice. After a successful wormhole trip, the castle has finally landed on the infamous Albadur planet, where Shiro’s supposed to be. Lance knows the place to be the stuff of nightmares and thus can’t quite reconcile the harmless hunk of rock he’s currently standing on with the painful memories of purple clouds and Shiro’s broken body. He is, however, painfully aware of the task ahead of him. Now that they’re on the planet, it’s up to Lance to locate the black paladin with his quintessence powers, the ones he hasn’t quite figured out yet. When he asked Allura for advice earlier that morning, she suggested the use of the quintessence tether that he used to make contact with Shiro on the Balmera. Which, of course, Lance has never actually used in the Physical Plane. Great. The blue paladin makes the executive decision to just lean against a nearby rock and breathe as the others get adjusted to their surroundings. Keith immediately picks up Lance’s uneasiness and goes to stand beside him as Allura and Hunk make a point of scouting the terrain, barely holding back an eager Pidge and Coran.

“What’s up?” Keith’s voice is gentle, but Lance can tell from the red paladin’s upright posture that he’s not leaving without some kind of explanation. Keith has gotten good at reading Lance recently, or maybe Lance has started putting up less of his walls around Keith. Who knows? But even after their conversation about the garrison, Lance can’t get rid of the insecurity that seems to define his relationship with the red paladin, especially now that Lance has figured out his true feelings for Keith. So he goes on the defensive: a safe approach.

“Nothing,” Lance replies nonchalantly. Keith says ‘bullshit, motherfucker’ by simply raising an eyebrow. Lance sighs, “Okay. If I say ‘nothing’ will you not bother me? Even if you don’t believe me?”

         Keith shakes his head, much to Lance’s frustration. “Not a chance.”

        “You drive me crazy, Samurai,” Lance lets out an exasperated huff, but secretly, his heart starts to beat a little bit faster.  _ Drives me crazy in more ways than one, _ Lance muses as he notices Keith still looking at him intently.

        “Seriously. What’s bothering you?” Keith reaches for Lance’s hand without thinking but pulls back as soon he realizes, very much aware that all the others are present. But this action doesn’t go unnoticed by Lance, and the blue paladin has to take a moment before deciding that he should come clean to Keith.

        “It’s just that this is it, Keith. This is the moment of truth,” Lance sighs, “This is when we find out if my powers actually worked and we get Shiro back. Or this is when we find out I wasted everyone’s time.”

        “Lan—”

        “Or,” Lance continues, “This is when we find out that I was too slow to save Shiro.”

        This time Keith can’t help himself, and he puts both arms around the blue paladin, not caring who may be watching.“There’s no reason to think about the worst case situation,” Keith breathes, “You can do this Lance. We all believe in you! I believe in you.” Keith squeezes Lance a little tighter. “You just have to believe in yourself. Okay?”

         “Okay,” Lance agrees. They break apart, and Lance immediately feels a keen loss of warmth, ”Thanks, Keith.”

         Keith just responds with a small smile, which somehow sets Lance’s heart racing once more.

…

“You’re sure we can’t just physically search the place?” Pidge asks as Lance sits cross-legged on a flat rock, making a show of clearing space on the already barren surface.

“I mean we could,” Lance replies, “but when I just looked around, I couldn’t find Shiro in the Astral Plane.”

        “You didn’t really explain why you have to go back there,” Pidge says. Lance purses his lips.

        “Shiro claimed he was trapped in the Astral Plane. I’m guessing he’s tried and failed to return to his body in the Physical Plane. It’s up to me to find him and get him to snap out of it so we can save him in the real world.” Lance takes a deep breath, “I can do this, Pidge.”

         Keith smiles at Lance’s affirmation, glad that the blue paladin has taken his words to heart.

“Lance remember,” Allura says firmly, “Now that you are geographically close to Shiro, it’ll be much easier to form a quintessence tether to him, and you’ll have less of the astral plane to navigate.” Allura’s eyes narrow, “That being said, you absolutely cannot lose your focus. Because your connection will be so strong, both of you are in more danger if the connection becomes warped or broken before we actually find Shiro.”

“No pressure then,” Lance mutters. He closes his eyes and reaches out for the Astral Plane, not bothering to bypass through the Black Lion. At first it’s all darkness, like Lance experienced on the Balmera, but slowly, details begin to materialize. Wispy outlines of rocks, purple clouds, lack of starlight, until Lance recognizes the now familiar landscape of Albadur. Lance takes it in from his new high vantage point, an area specifically chosen for their landing point by Allura in the Physical Plane. He spots a largish crater nearby, with purple and black metal chunks peaking out of the top. Realizing that he’s found the remains of Zarkon’s armor again, Lance smiles and takes off in that direction. For once in the Astral Plane, he feels like he knows where he’s going. 

…

“Okay, is no one else weirded out by this?” Hunk asks, gesturing at Lance, whose skin is currently glowing an iridescent blue. He’s also suspended in mid air, his arms out, making his body form a cross. “Allura?”

“Yeah!” Pidge agrees, “I feel like that’s…not normal. Even for this.”

        Keith pinches the bridge of his nose and inhales sharply, forcing himself to not engage in their fearmongering. Truth be told, he’s probably more freaked out than the other two paladins, but refuses to admit it.

“This is absolutely normal,” Allura lies through her teeth, “I’m sure Lance is fine.”

…

Lance is, in fact, the opposite of fine. After reaching Zarkon’s armor, he managed to form a quintessence tether to Shiro on the first try, causing impromptu celebration. Lance quickly discovers something is wrong, however, when he looks more closely at the golden cord in his hand. It’s fraying in several places and the gold flickers every now and then, giving way to a slate gray color. 

_Shiro’s_ _gotten worse_ , Lance realizes with sickening certainty. His first instinct is to sprint to Shiro as fast as possible, but the sharp memory of Allura’s warning stops Lance quickly. Using all his self restraint, Lance forces himself to take a deep breath and refocus on maintaining his already fragile connection to Shiro. When Lance starts moving, he makes his steps careful and deliberate, holding the shimmering thread gingerly. Even as he gets closer to where he knows Shiro is, there’s no tightening of the rope like last time, and Lance begins to worry more. He forces himself to continue going slow and steady, but his fear about what he might find at the end of the rope grows by the minute, his heart constricting in his chest. And it seems his worry is well founded as he finally reaches Shiro, the black paladin’s body visibly fading from the Astral Plane.

“Shiro!” Lance throws off any airs of caution and runs to Shiro’s side. He can see Shiro’s chest just barely rising and falling, and when Lance tries to put a hand on Shiro’s neck to check the man’s pulse, it simply passes through the black paladin’s body, as if Shiro is a mirage. “Shiro!” Lance cries again, willing the black paladin’s eyes to open. _I’m too late_ , Lance thinks fearfully, _I’mtoolateI’mtoolateI’mtoolate_.

“You can’t trick me,” Shiro finally whispers, without opening his eyes, “I know you’re not real.” Lance lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, not processing Shiro’s words, merely the fact that he’s alive.

“Shiro thank god!” Lance feels giddy with relief, “I made it in time. Come on! Let’s go home!” 

        But Shiro makes no attempt to move and keeps his eyes closed. “You know I really believed you, the last time you showed up,” Shiro says, “I really thought that you weren’t a dream and that you were all coming to rescue me.” Shiro laughs hollowly, “but you won’t find me. I’m dying, Lance. I’m dying, and I’m trapped in this nightmare world.” 

        That was Lance’s suspicion with the fading of Shiro’s quintessence form, but he didn’t want to believe it. Only now, he might not have a choice. 

        “It’s okay,” Shiro makes a hacking cough, which he then tries to pass off as another laugh, “I’ve done what I can for Team Voltron. You’re all incredibly strong. You’ll be fine without me.”

         Lance feels himself crying, all his worst fears being realized.

“Shiro, please,” Lance begs, “I’m not imaginary. You just have snap out of it!” Lance’s tears are hot and heavy now, and he can barely see Shiro through the film of water, “Just wake up, and we can come and get you in the physical plane!”

“If the real Lance is listening,” Shiro whispers. “Just take care of my brother, okay?”

“Keith?” Lance wonders aloud, the beginnings of an idea forming in his mind.

“Yes,” Shiro says, with some effort, “I asked him to lead Voltron because I know him the best. I know his skills as a pilot, and I know he won’t ever give up the cause.” Another hacking cough. “But he needs someone to balance him out. He can be reckless. Shoots first and asks questions later kind of guy.” 

         Lance allows himself to smile ruefully, “That’s Keith alright.”

“Help him, Lance,” Shiro urges, “and take care of Hunk and Pidge and Coran and Allura.” Shiro pauses.“I never got Pidge back to Matt,” he murmurs.

“Well, you’re not dead yet,” Lance snaps, “so stop acting like it.” Lance takes a deep breath. “I’m getting you to come back, Shiro. And I’m getting help to do it. I’ll be right back.” Lance takes off down the path he came from, leaving sparkling dust in his wake. Unbeknownst to him, a single tear trickles down Shiro’s cheek, the black paladin’s eyes still firmly squeezed shut.

…

“Guys, I need your help!” Lance’s sudden awakening scares the life out of the assembled group. Keith in particular feels his heart nearly give out, even more so upon noticing that, while Lance is up and about, his eyes are still entirely glowing blue, making it impossible to make out Lance’s irises or pupils. Allura and Coran take more interest, however, in the glowing stripes that remain on Lance’s cheeks. Allura subconsciously reaches up to touch the marks on her own face before exchanging looks with Coran. Pidge and Hunk are also intrigued by the marks, and watch the exchange between the two Alteans with interest, but decide to not say anything. “We’re wasting time!” Lance exclaims as the others appear motionless, “Shiro won’t snap out of it!”

“You’ve seen Shiro?” Keith asks. Lance nods.

“His body is fading in the Astral Plane. If we don’t get him to try and return to the Physical Plane, he’ll die from his injuries for sure,” Lance’s throat hurts from saying those words. “I persuade him though. He thinks I’m a dream again.” Lance clears his throat, trying to put on the confidence he doesn’t have. “So I need you to all come into the Astral Plane and help me convince him.”

“Okay,” Keith immediately accepts Lance’s suggestion without question, “Let’s go.” Keith walks over to Lance’s side, followed by Hunk and Pidge but the Alteans hesitate.

“Lance, have you ever brought people with you in the Astral Plane?” Allura asks. “It’s incredibly difficult, and there are so many of us.”

“First time for everything,” Lance replies, gesturing for her to join the group. “Allura,” The princess is once again taken aback by Lance’s glowing eyes and markings. “we have to save Shiro.” Allura nods and, despite her reluctance, goes and grabs Pidge’s hand.

“What are you doing?” The green paladin asks skeptically.

“Well, how else are we all going to get into the Astral Plane together?” Allura asks matter of factly. Pidge looks at Lance, who simply shrugs and mouths ‘just go with it.’ He’s already winging this enough as it is, so he’s grateful for any advice from Allura. They all join hands, and Lance feels a slight rush as Keith grabs his hand, completely unrelated to the adrenaline already pumping through his veins.

“Okay. We’re doing this.” Lance doesn’t realize he says the words out loud instead of just thinking them and closes his eerie blue eyes. He takes a deep breath as he reaches out to each of his teammates, touching upon their quintessence selves, trying to stay connected to them as he feels himself being drawn into the Astral Plane once more. He grips Keith’s hand even tighter and feels the red paladin do the same. There’s a distinct rushing feeling and then a settling, as Lance feels his feet touching down on Albadur’s murky mirror. He opens his eyes and looks around, grinning as he sees the familiar faces of his friends all around him.

“We all made it,” Keith says softly, looking at Lance.

“Yeah,” Lance whispers back, “Alright. This way to Shiro.”

        Now that they’re all securely in the plane, there’s no need to be physically touching anymore, and most of the paladins let go of each other’s hands and walk single file as Lance leads them through the rocky labyrinth, easily picking up the quintessence tether from where he left it. All except Keith, however, who elects to keep holding Lance’s hand, his other hand holding his sword. If a real fight occurred, letting go of Lance could waste precious seconds, but Keith decides to dismiss caution for a moment. He doesn’t know what’s going to happen today. He doesn’t know if they’ll save Shiro. He doesn’t know what’s going on between him and Lance. What he does know, however, is that he feels a strange sense of safety holding the blue paladin’s hand, so he doesn’t let go. Lance doesn’t complain, allowing himself a small smile as he leads them all to Shiro.

…

        “Oh my god.” Pidge covers her mouth in horror at the sight of Shiro’s disappearing body, Allura and Hunk following suit.

        “Shiro,” Lance says firmly, trying his best to hide his own discomfort, “You don’t believe that I’m real? Well, I’ve brought company.”

        “Shiro!” Keith exclaims, coming out of his shocked daze. He races to his brother’s side and tries to put an arm on Shiro’s shoulder.

        “No Kei—” Lance’s words die in his throat as Keith cries out when his hand simply passes through Shiro’s arm. “That happens.” 

         Keith flops to the ground next to Shiro, already feeling defeated. “You gotta wake up Shiro,” Keith urges, “I can’t do this, okay.” 

         Shiro’s eyes flutter slightly, but don’t open. 

         “I can’t lead Voltron for you.” Keith takes a deep breath, suddenly very aware of everyone listening to him. “Lance has been helping me,” Keith finally whispers, “He’s a better leader than I am, but don’t tell him that. His ego might grow even more.” 

          Shiro manages a chuckle at that.

         “But seriously,” Keith continues, “I couldn’t be doing this without him, but I need you back, Shiro. I need my brother to annoy me and help me and to have a little too much faith in me. Please.”

         “I don’t know if I’ll be able to help you much Keith,” Shiro says, gesturing at his wispy body. Keith smiles as he sees Shiro’s eyes open.

         “It doesn’t matter,” Keith says, “You just have to go back to the Physical Plane and wake up.”

         “Shiro,” Pidge says, her voice thick with emotion. “You promised me you’d help me get back to my family. We’re doing that. Together,” Pidge chokes back tears, “Don’t make me lose you too.”

         “We all miss you, Shiro,” Hunk says, “You gotta come back man. I’m sure Black has been missing you like crazy.”

         “Are they okay?” Shiro asks, the faintest smile touching his face as he thinks of his lion. Hunk nods and Shiro sighs contentedly.

         “Shiro,” Allura knows she’s one of the last to speak and thinks her words over carefully, “Voltron is nothing without its decisive head. Surely you know that.” Allura pauses. “But much more importantly, our family can’t function without you.”

         “Well spoken, princess,” Coran says, “Listen well to them, Shiro. They’re not wrong. You’re the bravest man this side of the universe. Surely you could wake up?” Coran thinks wistfully back to a simpler time, “There’s a paladin lunch waiting for you back at the castle.”

          Shiro regards all of them, thinking for a moment before coming to his decision.“I think I’ll take you up on that, Coran,” Shiro says. He sits up with some effort, but his newfound resolve fills Lance with incredible joy. “I’ll try to snap out of it.” Shiro closes his eyes again, but this time it’s clear that he’s concentrating fiercely, putting all his energy into returning to his physical body.

        “What’s happening?” Pidge asks fearfully as Shiro’s form appears to move in and out of focus, shimmering slightly.

        “Is he…” Keith’s voice trails off, not wanting to voice what everyone’s surely thinking. But to his surprise, Lance’s face is alight with a grin.

        “No,” Lance says firmly, “He’s waking up.”

        “Lance is right,” Allura agrees, “His quintessence self is making the journey back into his physical body.”

        “Is that what I’m doing then?” Pidge asks uncertainly. They all turn to look at the green paladin and see that Pidge is also flickering before she vanishes entirely.

        “Pidge!” Hunk exclaims, reaching for the air where his friend was just moments before. His shock only lasts a moment before he too flickers and vanishes.

        “What’s happening?” Lance asks, panic lodging in his throat. “Where did they go?”

        “Lance,” Allura says sharply as she herself begins to flicker, “You have to focus! You’re the only thing keeping us in this plane.” Allura’s voice grows quieter as the princess fades more. “Without any powers, they can’t easily remain in the Astral Plane for long periods of time.”

        “Then, why are you fading?” Lance asks, feeling himself beginning to hyperventilate, but the princess is already gone, without an answer. Lance whirls around, “Coran?” But the older Altean has disappeared as well. Lance turns again, and finally a sigh of relief leaves his lips. “At least you’re still here, Keith.” Lance instinctively reaches for the red paladin’s hand, but his hand passes through thin air. Then Lance sees the flickering.

        “Keith!” Lance tries to reach for him again, but to no avail.

        “Lance, it’s okay,” Keith says, “I know it looks weird.”

        “Well that’s one way of putting it.” Lance remarks.

        “But we’re just returning to the Physical Plane, right? Like Allura said. We’ll see you on the flipside,” Keith tries to offer a comforting smile, even though he’s also freaking out. He hadn’t been entirely convinced by Allura’s explanation, but the last thing Keith wants to do is make Lance think it was his fault. “Just make sure you come back too,” Keith says as he feels the last of himself departing, “I ne—” Keith’s words are cut off as the red paladin too finally disappears. Lance puts a hand on his forehead, still consumed with worry. His mind longs to return to the worst case scenario, but he’s just going to have to trust that his friends are safe. He has to.

        “What is it with this place?” Lance asks aloud angrily, “When I want to get here, it’s hard, but when I don’t, it’s easy. When I don’t want to leave it’s easy, but when I do, it’s hard.” Lance kicks a nearby rock in frustration, but simply ends up hurting himself in the process. “Alright focus, focus.” Lance mutters, hastily righting himself. He takes a few moments of deep breathing before tracing in his mind’s eye the path he wants to take. He keeps Shiro as the focal point of his thoughts, knowing that he’ll need the quintessence tether again in the Physical Plane. 

_          Patience yields focus _ , Lance reminds himself, before giving himself over to the ungodly will of quintessence, gradually pulling him back to the Physical Plane.

…

         “Why isn’t he waking up?” Keith asks as he shakes Lance’s arm again, “We came back from the Astral whatever a billion years ago.” 

          In reality, it’s only been ten minutes, but Allura is beginning to share Keith’s concern. She’s still not entirely sure why they were all suddenly ejected from the Astral Plane and can only hope that Lance will return safely.

          Despite Keith’s urgings, Lance hasn’t stirred, his eyes and new marks still glowing with an eerie light. Rationally, Keith knows that Lance has never not returned from the Astral Plane and that the other boy will be awake any moment, ready to direct them to Shiro. But the worm of doubt is already in Keith’s mind, and he grips Lance’s hand tightly as all of the worst case scenarios flash through his head. The thing Keith hates the most about Lance’s powers isn’t the danger that seems to surround Lance but how Keith’s powerless to stop it. In a battle, he can have Lance’s back. He can provide cover fire, he can get fighters off of Lance’s tail, he can use his sword to take out a Galra sentry. But now? All he can do is wait. 

_           Please wake up _ , Keith thinks urgently _ , I don’t know what I’d do if you didn’t wake up _ . Keith has to take a moment after that thought enters his mind. It’s true. Of course it is. Keith himself has being saying different versions of it: you’re important to me, I need you, etc. But only now does Keith process, does Keith understand, what that feeling really means. 

 

_           I love Lance _ , Keith realizes.

 

          It’s not an earth shattering revelation. It doesn’t take Keith aback, and it doesn’t surprise him (that much). It’s more of a falling into place, the puzzle pieces finally clicking together. It’s the ‘oh that’s what that is’ that’s taken Keith so long. Keith thinks back to their almost kiss from the night before, and wonders how he didn’t realize sooner.

_           I’m in love with Lance _ , Keith repeats in his mind as he finally sees the other boy take a deep breath, his chest now noticeably rising and falling,  _ how screwed am I?  _

          Lance comes to with a gasping breath, falling into Keith’s arms. Little do they all know Shiro is waking up in the same manner at the same instant, just some meters away from them all.

…

“Okay that thing is way cooler in real life,” Pidge says, gesturing to the golden thread in Lance’s hand. After being crushed in hug by Keith upon waking up, Lance had successfully re-summoned the quintessence tether and was finally leading the group towards Shiro. While Lance and Keith are no longer holding hands, Pidge notices that the red paladin still stayed quite close to Lance, probably in light of Lance’s recent scare.

_         If he’s gonna get like this every time Lance uses his powers, they won’t have to confess to each other,  _ Pidge muses, _ even the mice should know at this point _ .

“It is pretty awesome,” Lance concedes, not even pretending to be humble, “and the sparkles will make it easier for Coran to follow us.”

Coran is currently retrieving a transport scooter for Shiro, suggesting that it would be easier to transport Shiro in light of his injuries. Lance had agreed, as well as Coran’s aching bones, and thus Coran was to catch up with them as soon as he had gotten the scooter ready.

Keith nods mutely as the conversation continues, not really trusting himself to speak. He finds himself just looking at Lance every now and then as if trying to ensure that the blue paladin is indeed still real. Now that he understands why he’s been seeing Lance in a different light, it’s almost more confusing to be around him. Keith suddenly feels like he’s keeping a secret, even though he was actually keeping the secret from himself the entire time. Keith’s feelings are only further complicated by the fact that he has no idea that Lance feels the same way or that the other boy is going through a similar crisis, even though he appears calm and collected as he leads the group.

_         Shiro’s safe _ , Keith thinks firmly,  _ that’s all that matters _ . And truly, Keith does feel a great burden of uncertainty and responsibility suddenly lifted off of his shoulders now that he’s at least talked to Shiro, even if it was in a strange dream world thing. But at the same time, Keith finds himself periodically looking at Lance and then looking away, not even thinking about the path ahead.

Which is why he’s completely unprepared for the sight that greets them as they finally reach Shiro.

“His body wasn’t just fading,” Keith whispers as he takes in Shiro’s crumpled form and his Galra arm. Or rather, what’s left of it. The bottom half appears to have broken off completely and the rest of the arm is in poor shape, with metal bent and cracking in many places and dried blood covering the place where the arm connects with Shiro’s shoulder. Keith wants to just break down in tears in front his brother, but forces himself to withdraw from his emotions, letting the rational part of his brain go onto autopilot, “Lance, help me get him up.”

Lance takes a second to respond, like Keith and the others, the reality of Shiro’s physical distress is finally hitting home and it’s difficult to take in all at once.

“Coming.” Lance finally says, making his way over to Shiro with Keith. Keith puts Shiro’s good arm around his shoulders while Lance uses his arms to hoist Shiro by his waist from the other side. Together, they lift Shiro up, managing to get the black paladin into a mostly upright, standing position.

“Keith, Lance?” Shiro’s voice is raspy from disuse but it’s real and definitely him, and Keith can’t help the tears that spring from his eyes.

“It’s us, Shiro,” Keith says, “We’re taking you home.”

“Coran’s coming with a scooter and you’ll be back at the castle in no time!” Lance affirms. Shiro gives both of them weary yet grateful looks. He also takes in the other faces around him, smiling as he realizes everyone _has_ brought him back, just like they promised.

“Thank you,” Shiro says softly. He pauses for a moment his lips turning up slightly, “I could definitely use a hand.”

…

No one is entirely comfortable until Shiro’s securely in one of the healing pods, already beginning regeneration. While the journey back to the castle wasn’t too difficult, actually getting Shiro into the pod itself was another matter altogether. Shiro’s arm, or lack thereof, made it difficult to physically support the black paladin, as Lance and Keith quickly learned. Despite Shiro’s brave face, it was obvious that the black paladin was in an incredible amount of pain, especially when anyone accidentally touched the remains of his arm. After Allura had finished setting up the pod, Keith saw a visible look of relief on Shiro’s face as he knew that the struggle was finally over. 

        Comforting as it is seeing Shiro on the mend, the sight of his pale and broken body in the glass chamber is a sobering reminder of all the black paladin has been through, and how much he truly has to heal.Everyone reacts differently. Allura can’t bear to look for a moment longer than necessary. Not because of the actual physical gruesomeness, but because she feels as if she needs to take responsibility. Knowing that she could have, in some way, prevented her friend and paladin from suffering only makes Allura’s sadness deeper, and she decides that she needs to occupy her mind with something, truly anything, else.

        Pidge has a similar thought and retreats to the comfort of the green lion bay. Wanting to at least be productive, Pidge pulls up the rough schematics of Shiro’s arm he had allowed her to draw up one time when she was bored.  _ If Shiro needs a new arm, I’ll make one _ , Pidge decides firmly. She wonders if the Alteans had any similar technology back in the day as she works and makes a mental to ask Allura about it later. 

        Hunk and Coran, on the other hand, seek refuge in the kitchen. Hunk wants nothing more than to stress bake but, upon remembering his disastrous crystal cookies, elects to ask to Coran to teach him some Altean baking recipes, and Coran is more than happy to oblige. And if Hunk decides to make his own modifications, the older Altean is truly none the wiser.

Keith, of all people, is accepting the situation with a more philosophical attitude. Of course he’s worried for Shiro and concerned about his arm, but Keith’s mainly just so profoundly relieved that Shiro is alive and safe. He remembers that feeling from finding Shiro back when this whole thing started. He’d only just found his brother again. Keith doesn’t know what he would have done if Shiro had been gone for good this time. And luckily now, he doesn’t have to even entertain that thought.

        Keith plants himself in the healing pod room, wanting to be there as soon as Shiro wakes up. Lance decides to stay with Keith, not wanting to let Keith wait alone for hours and hours. They don’t say much to each other, but Keith appreciates Lance’s presence more than he can express. Lance lets his hand rest casually on Keith’s knee, and Keith soaks up that warmth like a sponge, letting it fill him up and calm him of the tumults of that day. When Lance eventually leaves, Keith feels an instant chill and also a vague sense of disappointment, which is only followed by confusion when Lance says he’ll “be right back” with a smile and a wink. Keith sits by himself for a bit, occasionally looking up at Shiro, just to check. No longer grounded by the presence of another person, Keith’s mind quietly starts to creep back towards doubt, wondering if the healing pod is actually really working and other ridiculous notions like that. These insidious thoughts are all chased away as Lance returns, with a tray of food and what appears to be pillows and blankets under his arms.

        “What  _ are _ you carrying?” Keith asks, at once incredulous and delighted.

        “Well, I was hungry,” Lance says, setting down the tray with an ‘umph.’ “And I figured you’d be too, so I grabbed some stuff from the kitchen. Courtesy of chefs Hunk and Coran.” 

         Keith shakes his head. “Doesn’t answer my question. What is it?”

        “First, we have space goo du juor,” Lance explains, gesturing two plates with loaded with green, “and then a bunch of…” Lance thinks for a moment as he looks at the various side dishes he’s brought. “Pastries? All I know is that Coran pulled them out of the space oven when I came in and told me to take them.”

        “And the blankets and stuff?” Keith asks. He then feels his heart skip a beat as Lance smiles sheepishly.

        “I know aren’t leaving till Shiro wakes up so I thought you could use a pillow or something,” Lance says, “According to Allura, we’re gonna be waiting a while.”

        “We?” Keith’s heart flutters again as Lance draws his gaze up to meet Keith’s gaze.

        “You didn’t think I was gonna leave you here alone all night, did you?” Lance pats the pillow beside him, “We’re camping out, Keith.”

         Keith has to take a second to process all that Lance has said and done before responding, overwhelmed by the care he’s receiving.

        “Thanks, Lance,” Keith finally says, “You really didn’t have to do all this. And I’m sure you’d rather sleep in your own bed.” 

        Lance just shakes his head dramatically.“Don’t you know, Keith? I  _ always _ sleep on the floor.” Lance waits for the red paladin to crack a smile before laughing at his own joke.

        “Just pass me a pastry,  _ Lazer Brain _ ,” Keith replies.

        “Your wish is my command,” Lance says, half joking, half not.

…

“What is it?” Keith finally asks, breaking the silence. After devouring the tray of food from Hunk and Coran, Lance had cleared away the dishes and the two had settled into non-conversation once again. But it wasn’t a comfortable silence, as it had been before. There was something on Lance’s mind: Keith could feel it. Keith’s no longer surprised by his new strange attunement to Lance’s emotions just as he’s no longer surprised by Lance knowing exactly what he needs and what he’s thinking. But the difference is now Keith’s not afraid to ask about these kinds of things. Whatever Lance’s feelings for him may be, Keith knows their relationship has changed in recent days. The playing field has become level and the stakes equal. And so Keith asks again: “What? I know something’s up.” 

        Lance sighs.“I’m just thinking.” 

“You can do that?” There’s no malice in Keith’s jab, but Lance doesn’t seem at all amused, which only worries Keith more.

“Shiro wouldn’t have been in such bad shape if I’d been better and found him sooner,” Lance’s voice is hollow. “That’s not me ‘putting myself down,’ Keith. That’s just a fact.”

“Maybe so, but without you, we wouldn’t have found Shiro, period,” Keith counters, “I want Shiro healed just as much as anyone, but you can’t blame yourself for what the Galra did, okay?” 

“You’re probably right,” Lance says, “For once.”

“Hey!” Keith playfully swats at Lance’s hand only to draw it back as soon as he realizes how cold it is. “Lance, you’re a block of ice!”

“I’ve been warmer,” Lance replies, shrugging. It’s in fact, super cold in the cryopod room, but Lance, as always, will admit to nothing.

“Here,” Keith says, taking one of the blankets Lance had brought and draping it over the two of them. He also takes Lance’s pillows and piles them around the blue paladin, leaving only a little space for himself.

“What is this?” Lance asks, on the verge of laughter. “A pillow fort?”

“It’s to keep you warm,” Keith mutters, “Doofus.”

“You’re a doofus,” Lance retorts, “Where’d you come up with that word, anyway?”

“I heard Allura saying it one time,” Keith admits, “It was after your drop kick that nearly killed us all.”

“Hey, that was an accident,” Lance defends, “You wound me, Keith.” Lance faux-dramatically flops onto the red paladin, but doesn’t actually get up, keeping his head resting on Keith’s shoulder. Lance can feel his cheeks getting warm and simply hopes that Keith doesn’t notice. Keith begins to go a lovely shade of pink but simply shifts so Lance can more comfortably lean against him. Remembering the original ‘reason’ for the blanket, Keith finds Lance’s hand under the blanket and covers it with his own, a decidedly bold move. _I am supposed to be reckless paladin_ , Keith supposes..

“Still freezing,” Keith mumbles, as if trying to justify the hand holding.

“Hey, no one asked you to,” Lance replies, but he moves his hand so that he and Keith can interlace their fingers. All at once, Lance feels excitement and calm. Yes, there is a new warmth in his cheeks and his heart, but there’s also a ‘yes,’ a ‘yes’ this is how it should be and a ‘yes’ like this is a homecoming. They’d held hands before, but somehow this feels different. More intimate, more real. More on the verge of something…more. As Lance turns these thoughts over in his mind, he finds himself dozing off, relaxed in the safe haven of Keith.

“Sleep well,” Keith whispers as he feels himself falling asleep as well, “Night, Lance.”

         Lance is too tired to form words at this point but instead makes a vague nodding motion that he hopes Keith understands. And as sleep finally claims Lance, he swears he can feel a vague sensation on the crown of his head, as if someone is giving him a goodnight kiss there. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up Next: Shiro is finally back in action (sort of), Allura confronts an old enemy, and shocking revelations (of all kinds) come to light


	8. Sunrise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro wakes up and gets readjusted to paladin life. Pidge and Allura make a horrifying discovery about Lotor and try to learn more. The team faces a difficult battle, leading to unprompted and heartfelt confessions from the red and blue paladins. Coran is tired and Hunk’s just generally done with everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhhhh I've been waiting to have this chapter written and done for so long y'all. this slow burn has been k i l l i n g me

Shiro starts to regain his senses as he hears the all too familiar hissing sound of a healing pod beginning to open. He opens his eyes, the brightness of the room blinding him at first. He eventually adjusts and immediately spots a groggy looking Lance and Keith huddled under a blanket next to one of the other pods. Shiro feels a rush of fondness in his heart as he realizes that they must have camped out overnight waiting for him to wake up. The pair seems so much more comfortable together, and the corners of Shiro’s mouth turn up. 

_         Not everything that happened when I was gone was bad,it seems _ , Shiro thinks. It’s then that Shiro realizes how much he missed them, all of them. Being as weak and wounded as he was, he hadn’t been able to form many conscious thoughts while on Albadur, but his friends had featured frequently when his muddled mind would allow. He hadn’t, however, allowed himself to feel the intense pain and loss from being separated from his teammates. Until now. As the pod opens and Shiro stumbles out, he feels the pinpricks of tears forming in his eyes, only made stronger at Lance and Keith’s excited reactions.

“Keith!” Lance exclaims, shaking his companion vigorously, “Shiro’s awake!” 

         Keith, half asleep, takes a second to process Lance’s words and the standing figure of Shiro before reacting.

“Shiro!” Keith jumps up in an instant and runs to hug his brother, nearly barreling Shiro over with the sheer force.

“Easy there, Keith,” Shiro chuckles but finds himself beginning to cry in earnest. He looks up from Keith to see Lance standing somewhat awkwardly and waves him over to join the embrace. Lance grins, running over and exclaiming 

        “Group hug!” before crashing into Keith and Shiro. Shiro struggles to maintain his balance but smiles as the two paladins try and hug him even tighter.“It’s good to have you back.”

“It’s good to be back, Lance,” Shiro frees one of his arms to ruffle Lance’s hair, causing the blue paladin to grin even wider.

“Shiro!” Pidge screams at full volume as soon as she enters the room. Pidge also takes a running start, but something about the green paladin’s pace makes Keith more than a little concerned.

“Pidge maybe sto—” But his words are cut off by Pidge knocking them all over, effectively creating a paladin dog pile.“Never mind,” Keith mutters as Pidge clambers over him to get to Shiro.

“Good to see you too, Pidge,” Shiro is audibly sniffling now but is truly beyond giving a damn. He feels a tap on his shoulder and turns to see the smiling faces of Hunk and Coran. Hunk doesn’t say anything but wraps Shiro in a warm hug, not caring that he’s crushing Pidge as he does so. Coran also doesn’t say much but firmly grasps Shiro’s arm.

“We all missed you,” the older Altean finally says, “We’re incredibly grateful you’re back safely.”

“Thanks, Coran,” Shiro replies warmly, ever obliged to the royal advisor.

“I suppose I should go and tell the princess that you’re awake,” Coran remarks.        

        “No need,” Allura declares, striding into the healing pod room, “It’s lovely to have you back, Shiro.” 

        Shiro crosses the room to stand in front of the princess, not quite sure how to greet her. Allura senses his hesitation and pulls him into a firm hug, one that Shiro’s sure is bruising some of his ribs. 

“Thanks,” Shiro chokes out as she releases him. Looking around the room, Shiro can’t help but feel something is missing. It takes him a moment before he realizes it.“I’d like to see the Black Lion,” Shiro says softly. He’d been painfully aware of their bond the entire time he was missing and is eager to see them again.

“I’ll take you,” Hunk says, “Pidge and I were taking care of them while you were away.” Hunk puts his hands up in a placating gesture as he sees a flash of worry cross Shiro’s face, “We didn’t make any modifications, I promise.” 

        Pidge sulks as Shiro breathes an audible sigh of relief. “One malfunction and your entire reputation is ruined,” She grumbles as Hunk and Shiro leave the room. Pidge has half a mind to leave with them, before she remembers the elephant in the room.

“Allura,” Pidge walks over to the princess, “About Shiro’s arm.” 

         Allura blanches at Pidge’s words, but quickly recovers,“Yes, Pidge?”

“Well, I was thinking, since Shiro’s Galra arm is wrecked, that we could make him a new one using Altean tech,” Pidge takes her little orange handheld out of her pocket and uses it to pull up a schematic, “I came across these designs for prosthetics when I was looking through the archives but—”

“You won’t find any models,” Allura says sadly, “All the designs you’re looking at were sent away to various outposts because of the war. Even if we did have some, I doubt they’d work.” Allura forces a laugh. “They’d be ten thousand years old, after all.”

“I thought that might be the case,” Pidge admits, “so I made my own out of the parts I could find.” 

        Allura’s jaw drops.

“And you did this all last night?” The princess asks incredulously.

“Well, not all of it,” Pidge admits, “I’d had the idea for a while, so I already had some prototypes and sketches. But I never thought we’d need it as a serious replacement…”

“Until now,” the princess finishes, “Can I take a look?”

“Sure! That’s why I was asking about it,” Pidge says, “I’m still don’t really know how to power the arm. Right now, I have some crystals inserted into it, but I don’t think that’s enough to be sustainable in the long run.” 

        Pidge jumps as she hears the sudden, sharp clearing of a throat behind her.

“If I could interrupt,” Coran says, “Altean prostheses weren’t primarily powered by crystals. Yes, there were crystals there, but they were only to facilitate the connection to the body.”

“How do you mean?” Pidge asks.

“Well, in order to use the arm at will, the prosthetic would need a direct connection to your neural synapses. The easiest and most non-invasive way to facilitate this is through creating a connection between the energy of the imbedded crystals and the quintessence of a person,” Coran shakes his head, “I suspect the Galra used a series of implants to create this connection, but the healing pod will have removed them.” 

        In light of Shiro’s extensive arm injuries, the healing pod had removed the rusting shards of metal from Shiro’s body, leaving little more than a skeletal frame of metal dangling by his side.

“Okay,” Pidge says skeptically. “But how do you actually do that? And why are you secretly an expert on this?” 

Coran puffs out his chest proudly.

“When I was a cadet in the royal Altean army, we had mandatory medical training, in case of being trapped without a healing pod,” Coran frowns, “Healing technology never reached the point of being able to regenerate limbs, so we learned the most about that sort of thing.” 

Pidge makes a noncommittal ‘mmm,’ not entirely convinced.

“If you’re sure Coran,” Pidge says, “Then, why don’t you come up to the green lion bay and check it out? If you think it’ll work, then, we can run it by Shiro.” 

         Coran nods.

“Alright then,” He strides out of the room excitedly with Pidge, recalling his youthful days on the battlefield. Allura looks around the room and realizes that she’s been left alone with Lance and Keith, who have been talking softly on their makeshift pillow fort. As happy as Allura is to see them getting along, she also recognizes a third wheel situation when she sees one.

“Wait up!” The princess calls as she starts after Pidge and Coran, “I’m coming with you!”

…

“So you’re not entirely sure about this?” Shiro asks again, still staring at the arm in Pidge’s hands. Shiro can’t deny that it’s a beautiful piece of technology, especially in contrast to his Galra arm. The arm has a sleek white metal casing with subtle grooves cut into it around the elbow and finger joints that emit a faint turquoise light once activated, like the castle does. There are golden inlays around the knuckles and a golden circle on the palm of the hand, which Pidge has set up to engage a fighting mechanism, similar to what he had with his other arm. In spite of all its beauty, however, Coran and Pidge’s uncertainty do little to comfort Shiro and the other assembled paladins. Even Allura seems hesitant.

“The arm will definitely work,” Pidge says firmly, “It’s just a matter of getting the energy of the crystals inside to work with your biological energy.” 

She says biological energy rather than quintessence to sound more scientific and grounded, but in truth, Pidge doesn’t completely understand it herself.

“You mentioned that,” Shiro says, “but how are you going to do that?”

“Beg your pardon, Shiro, but I have done this in the field before,” Coran gestures to Allura and Lance, “And that doesn’t work, I may have a quintessence sensitive Altean or two up my sleeve to help me out.” 

Lance involuntarily shivers at the comment, and Coran wonders if he’s accidentally revealed his suspicions about Lance being Altean. He quickly brushes the thought aside. Everyone knows about Lance’s powers at this point. It’s not a reason to panic.

“Okay,” Shiro replies, looking down at his broken arm and realizing that he doesn’t really have much choice,“I trust that you know what you’re doing.” 

         Coran nods, taking the arm from Pidge. Shiro reaches over with his other arm and presses the detaching mechanism just below the elbow for what he hopes is the last time. He regards his Galra arm for a moment before handing it off to a nearby Keith, who takes it with mild distaste and discomfort. Coran whistles as he works on comfortably fitting the end of the arm against Shiro’s body, in an attempt to diffuse the tension. Coran sighs with relief when he hears the securing mechanism make a sharp ‘click,’ indicating that the arm is locked into place. After checking that the crystals are indeed powered on, Coran turns the dial meant to open the flow of energy between the arm and the biological vessel. He hopes that will be enough to make Shiro’s arm work without bringing quintessence into the mix, but it quickly becomes clear that it’s not enough.

“Try to move your arm,” Coran requests, already knowing what the result will be. Shiro squints with great concentration, but the arm doesn’t budge, not even lifting a finger. Coran sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. He hadn’t really wanted to ask Allura for help because he knew the princess had no experience with healing magic, but at this point, it seems like he has no choice. But this is a morning of surprises for Coran, it seems, as Lance steps up before anyone can even say a word.

“I’ll try, Coran.” The firm line of Lance’s jaw tells Coran that it’s not a request, and he nods quickly, not wanting to refuse the blue paladin. Lance walks over to Shiro and regards the arm for a moment, not touching it.

“Aren’t you going to ask me if I know what I’m doing?” Lance wonders aloud, half joking, half not.

“Hey, you got me out of the Astral Plane with your powers,” Shiro counters, “I trust you.” 

        Energized by the unexpected praise from his hero, Lance rubs his hands together before placing them at the juncture between Shiro’s arm and his body. Lance takes a deep breath, murmuring, “Patience yields focus,” before closing his eyes, reaching out for the crystal energy being emitted by the prosthetic. Shiro’s head immediately swivels around to look at Keith as he hears Lance’s mantra, his eyes narrowed. 

_         They must have gotten really close if Keith taught him that _ , Shiro thinks. He makes a mental note to ask Keith about it later but doesn’t have much time to wonder as Lance begins working. At first, there’s only a slight glow from the embedded crystals, but the light increases as it flows up Lance’s arm, across his chest, down his other arm, and into Shiro’s body, like a human electric circuit. Shiro’s amazement only grows as the flow of energy continues, causing the glow to creep up into Lance’s cheeks, forming lines. 

_         They’re almost like _ … Shiro holds that thought as he swivels his head again to look at Coran and Allura,  _ Altean markings _ ? 

        Coran notices the gears turning in Shiro’s head and quickly makes hard eye contact with the black paladin. Shiro doesn’t quite understand what’s going on, but he understands the message Coran is sending him: ‘just be impressed.’ Shiro considers asking Allura, but is again  distracted by the growing sense of warmth in his arm as the energy connection strengthens. Shiro can sense the beginnings of feeling in his arm and experimentally wiggles his fingers, which actually works, to his delight. With another click, the arm finally lights up turquoise like it’s supposed to, and Lance lets go, staggering backwards into Coran. Shiro holds out a hand, helping the blue paladin right himself. They both smile when they realize Shiro is using his new hand.

“I think that worked,” Shiro says happily, “I can’t thank you enough, Lance.” 

        Lance rubs the back of his neck.

“Ah, it was nothing,” Lance replies, “Any time.”  

“Are you kidding?” Keith asks, tossing Shiro’s old arm aside before making his way over to Lance, “That was amazing!” He gestures to the others in the room, “You all saw that, right? Wasn’t that amazing?” 

        There’s a general chorus of assent before Keith returns to addressing Lance. 

        “You did good,” Keith says proudly, putting an arm around Lance’s shoulders. “We talked about this, remember?” he whispers into Lance’s ear. Lance nods, rolling his eyes but also quirking up his lips.

“Alright, alright,” Lance says hastily, not trusting himself to say more, his need to retort currently overwhelmed by his giddiness. Shiro watches the exchange with great interest, happy to see his younger brother getting along with Lance and amused by the slight flush he sees in Keith’s cheeks. 

_          Oh I’ll definitely be asking him about this later, _ Shiro thinks. He quickly makes a show of trying out the different functions of his arm, in an attempt to cover his quiet observation. Pidge eagerly shows him where the attachment and release mechanisms are and is in the middle of explaining the weaponry aspects of the arm when suddenly the lights on the wall of the green lion bay begin flashing, followed by the blaring of the castle alarm.

…

“We’re being attacked!” Allura exclaims. “How did they find us?”

“Not again,” Lance mutters, no longer phased by Galra just showing up out of nowhere.

“What are we gonna do?” Keith asks, “Shiro’s still not at full strength. If it’s a large scale attack, forming voltron won’t be an option.” 

Shiro opens his mouth to protest but sees the reason in Keith’s words, and closes his mouth quietly.

“Fleeing is always an option,” Pidge remarks from the far wall of the bay, where she’s easily tapped into the castle’s mainframe computer, “According to the scanners, there are three ships, coming in fast, accompanied by large swarms of fighters.” 

Pidge frowns, “Two of the ships are standard issue Galra cruisers, but the other one is new.” Pidge looks at the image again, doubting what she’s seeing, “It’s about half the size of the other two, but it seems more heavily armed.”

“Let me see,” Allura says, quickly crossing over to Pidge. Allura quickly notices an insignia on the front of the strange ship. Pidge sees the princess’ eyes flash with recognition, but neither of them says anything. 

        “Everyone but Shiro, get to your lions!” Allura commands,“We can take them down!” 

         They all burst into action, eager to get ready for battle. 

        “Coran,” Allura calls, “Can you stay and hold down the fort? I’ll be riding with Pidge.” 

         The green paladin gives Allura a funny look. She’s sure the princess has some sort of crazy idea and, for whatever reason, she’s enlisting Pidge to help her with it.

“What am I gonna do then?” Shiro asks, throwing up his hands as Pidge readies her lion.

“Help Coran,” Allura says, not even looking at Shiro as she boards the green lion, “We’ve got a job to do.”

“And what job is that?” Pidge asks as Green flies out into space, “Aren’t we just taking those ships out with the others?” 

        Allura nods.

“The other are dealing with the bigger two, yes,” Allura says, “But you and I are boarding the smaller ship to investigate.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Lance asks, and Allura realizes a moment too late that the audio communications are already turned on.

“Uh I’m with Lance,” Keith chimes in, “That’s a crazy idea, and that’s coming from me.” 

         Allura looks out and quickly spots the blue and red lions, her eyes narrowing slightly.

“Look,” Allura says thinly, “The symbol on the ship is the crest of Prince Lotor. Which means either he himself is on that ship, or that ship has information that could be useful to us.”

“So that’s why you wanted to ride with me,” Pidge murmurs, more to herself than to anyone.

“Well, you do have an impeccable infiltration track record, Pidge,” Allura says, “Anyway, I need you three and the castle to provide cover for Pidge and me as we board the ship.”

“We’ll use my cloaking device,” Pidge says, “and then, we can land on the underside, undetected.” 

“Good thinking,” Allura nods,“but we still don’t want any accidental fire coming for the green lion. Do you think you all can manage that?”

“Ha, are you kidding?” Lance asks, “ _Manage_ is my middle name.”

“I thought your middle name was Percival?” Keith asks, genuinely confused. Allura and Pidge hold back laughter as they try to refocus on the task at hand.

“Alright less talking, more shooting,” Lance says grumpily, flying ahead of the others before anyone can another word in edgewise.

“He’s right,” Allura concedes, “Are you ready, Pidge?” 

         Pidge grins, firmly pressing the button to activate the cloak,“It’s go time.”

…

The ship has surprisingly few guards inside, and Allura and Pidge easily board undetected after cutting a hole in the bottom of the loading bay.

“Typical Lotor,” Allura mutters, “Always thinking he’s invincible.”

“You know him?” Pidge asks as they carefully move down a corridor. She asks the question casually, but in truth, she’d been wondering about the prince ever since Allura’s horrified reaction to the news of his return.

“I knew him in his youth,” Allura finally says, “I don’t know what he’s become.” 

Pidge shrugs, accepting that this cryptic answer is all she’s going to get. She keeps walking until Allura catches her in an iron grip, yanking her behind a pillar.

“Hey, what was tha—” Pidge’s words are cut off by Allura’s hand clamped over her mouth, and suddenly, she understands why as a group of Galra sentries file past, disturbingly close to their hiding place. They both breathe a sigh of relief as the soldiers move out of sight, and Allura gently lets go of Pidge.

“Sorry,” Allura says, but Pidge makes a negative gesture.

“It’s all good,” Pidge’s brow furrows, “Where were all those guards coming from?”

“I was just thinking that,” Allura says, “Lotor may have an enormous ego, but he’s not a complete fool.” 

        She looks down the corridor in the direction the sentries came from, “There’s something worth protecting on this ship, and you and I are gonna find out what it is.” 

         Allura takes off with newfound determination and Pidge runs after her.

“I’m sure that’s true,” Pidge says, “but if most of the ship’s guards are concentrated around this, this thing, how are we gonna deal with them all?” 

        Allura turns her head briefly, flashing a wicked smile, and Pidge notices the princess’ skin has begun to turn purple.

“I think we have it covered,” Allura says as she continues her transformation into a Galra on the fly. 

        Pidge realizes she’s right as the first guard comes into view, and Allura simply picks them up and dunks them directly into a metal wall. As they round the corner, a whole squadron of guards comes into view, and Allura begins going to town, sparing no punches.

“Save some for me!” Pidge calls, activating her bayard. She dances through the crowd, shocking guards left and right with ease as she makes her way after the princess.

…

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Allura says as they finally enter the room that had been so heavily protected, “This just looks like a standard mainframe access room.” 

         Pidge immediately shakes her head, and moves to connect her own laptop to the access port.

“This room probably isn’t connected to the mainframe then. Maybe a separate network,” Pidge frowns as the screen flashes red and refreshes her password cracking program, “Judging by the number of guards, this is important info, but it’s also a newly built system.” 

         Pidge smiles as the screen finally stops flashing and excitedly waves Allura over, “It looks like the encryption isn’t quite finished on these files, so they have to be new, maybe even from the past few hours.” 

         She grabs one of Allura’s newly Galra hands and presses it to the computer’s touchpad, unlocking one of the security measures, “If I download these onto a hard drive, we’ll be able to fully decrypt them back at the castle.”

        Allura nods distractedly as she ponders whether they’ve just stumbled on the key to defeating Lotor or not.

“I’ll keep watch, then,” Allura says, “but be quick. We weren’t exactly subtle when we took out those guards. I’m sure reinforcements are already on their way.”

“We’re at fifteen percent,” Pidge says, eyes glued to the progress bar on the screen. Allura sees a straggler start down the corridor and quickly grabs a blaster from a nearby fallen sentry. She doesn’t miss, and the guard falls quickly. She keeps the blaster up, knowing that the next guards can’t be that far behind. 

        “Forty-five,” Pidge says.

“Quiznak,” Allura mutters as a few more guards come into view. She fires off a rapid round of shots, but more guards keep coming, unfazed by the rapid volley that killed their compatriots.

“Seventy-five,” Pidge says, the anxiety mounting in her voice. Allura fires ten more shots before making the executive decision to retreat. She closes the sliding door to the room before jamming the opening mechanism with a blaster shot. Pidge jumps at the noise and turns around to look at Allura incredulously. 

        “What’d you do that for?” Pidge asks, gesturing at the busted panel by the door.“How are we supposed to get out now?”

“They’ll all get through eventually,” Allura says,“I’m just buying us some time.” She looks up at the ceiling, searching until she makes a discovery that causes her to smile.“And there’s always the ventilation shaft,” Allura transforms herself back into an Altean, preparing for the tight fit they’ll soon have to make.

“Ninety-six,” Pidge says with a sigh, accepting the inevitable, “Ninety-eight. Ninety-nine.” 

        They both jump as the door rattles, probably being rammed into by the attacking sentries. 

       “Done!” Pidge instantly disconnects her hard drive, and Allura shoots the latch on the ventilation shaft grill with her stolen blaster, causing it to fall open. The door rattles again as Pidge shoots the grappling hook on her bayard, securing herself and Allura, before pulling them both up. They crawl through the shaft until they reach a dead end, where Allura kicks that grill open. She breathes a sigh of relief as she recognizes where they are: the corridor leading out of the loading bay.

“We’re almost there, Pidge,” Allura says cheerily, helping the green paladin out into the hall,“The loading bay is ju—” Allura is cut off as Pidge cries out, doubling over in pain. The princess catches the green paladin before she falls, nearly losing her own balance in the process.“What is it, Pidge?” Allura asks softly. Pidge stands upright, massaging her torso gingerly.

“We have to go,” Pidge’s face is grim, “The green lion’s been hit.”

         Allura’s eyes widen. 

        “It’s the pain,” Pidge says at Allura’s surprise, “I know no one else has experienced this when their lion gets hit but I just know. Okay?” 

         Allura shakes her head.

“That’s not the issue, Pidge,” Allura says. Following Allura’s gaze, Pidge turns around to see a tall Galra with long white hair and shifting yellow eyes. Pidge looks between Allura and the Galra, quickly connecting the dots.

“Is that—”

“Prince Lotor,” The Galra interjects, “At your service.” He flashes a smile, but it doesn’t reach his eyes, “Hello, Allura.”

…

“The green lion’s been hit!” Hunk exclaims, “It looks like its shield and cloaking device are down.”

“Has anyone heard anything from either Pidge or Allura?” Lance asks.

“Nothing,” Coran affirms sadly. Lance thinks for a moment.

“Okay Hunk, you go protect the green lion until we figure out what’s going on with those two,” Lance says, “Since we know they’re still on board, let’s concentrate our attack on the bigger ships. Coran, Shiro, you use the extra firepower of the castle to target the fighter bays on board the left ship and help Hunk. Keith and I will focus on other large ship.”

“Copy that,” Hunk says, racing off towards the green lion.

“Let’s go!” Keith whoops, charging into a swarm of fighters alongside the blue paladin.

“Lance is really taking charge on this mission,” Shiro remarks as Coran easily decimates a fighter swarm with some target seeking missiles, “I’m impressed.”

“Well, I always knew Lance had the capability to be a leader,” Coran says, “He’s a good boy, with a solid head on his shoulders.” 

Shiro nods,“Yeah.”

“The funny thing is, nobody seemed to notice until you put young Keith in charge,” Coran adds, side-eying the black paladin as he sends out another swarm of missiles, “Nothing against the red paladin, of course.”

“Yeah,” Shiro repeats himself, nodding dumbly, “Yeah.” 

        Of course, Coran is right. In fact, it’s obvious. But now, Shiro has to wonder why he didn’t see it himself to begin with.

…

“Lotor,” Allura says coldly, “Here to try and murder me again?” 

         Lotor blinks but otherwise shows no reaction to the accusation. 

“Don’t be silly,” The prince replies, “You and the green paladin are far more valuable to me alive.” He smiles, “Not necessarily unharmed.”

“Leave her alone!” Pidge exclaims, moving to stand in front of Allura. She draws her bayard, easily assuming a defensive position. Lotor tilts his head to one side, amused.

“Do you always make children fight your battles?” Lotor asks, “Oh wait, that was just your father.” 

        Allura bristles from his words, and hastily pushes Pidge aside.

“Lotor,” Allura declares, “You have thirty ticks to get out of my way before I break you, green paladin or not.”

“Sorry,” Lotor shrugs, “Not going anywhere.” 

         He reaches behind him and pulls out a sword from a sheath strapped to his back, previously concealed by his flowing locks, “You’re welcome to come and join me, however.” 

         Allura spits in disgust. She reaches inside of herself, drawing upon the raw energy she felt during her fight with Haggar until a pink mist begins to form around her, almost like a shield. If Lotor is surprised, he doesn’t show it and doesn’t flinch as the princess begins to run towards him.

“I defeated Haggar,” Allura says, “I can most certainly defeat you.” 

         Sparks fly as Allura’s magic collides with Lotor’s sword, and Pidge has to throw up a shield to protect her own face.

“Oh, but Haggar’s very much alive,” Lotor drawls, “In fact, I’m on my way to see her right now.” 

         He swings his sword violently, but Allura crosses her arms in an X to focus her magic on shielding, easily blocking him. Lotor pushes down harder on his sword, but to no avail, simply grunting with the exertion. The princess has an idea and quickly steps out of the way, causing Lotor to fall over now that the shield is no longer supporting his weight. Allura takes this opportunity to twist his arm back painfully and dislocate his sword hand shoulder before delivering a few swift, sharp kicks to the head. Any normal man would be unconscious but not Lotor. Allura knows they only have a few moments, so she waves frantically Pidge.

“Come on! We have to get to the green lion before he’s up again!” Allura hates retreating, even strategically, but knows to see reason. Still, she can’t help but take one last passing kick at Lotor. 

        “This isn’t over,” She mutters to the prone form before taking off down the corridor towards the loading bay with Pidge, so of course she doesn’t see the prince sit up, a smile forming on his face.

“ I look forward to it, princess,” he whispers aloud.

…

       “We can’t do this!” Lance exclaims, “It’s too much.” 

        Keith wants to protest, but in his heart, he has the sinking feeling that Lance is right. As the battle progresses, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the ordinary-looking Galra cruisers are anything but. Even after they had destroyed the main fighter bays, attackers had continued to emerge from the two ships. There were fewer of them, but the larger and more well armed fighters had proved problematic, resulting in several close calls. The ships had also begun using their ion cannons (five a piece); much smaller than the ones they’d seen before, but no less destructive. While occasionally firing shots off at the lions, the cannons had focused their fire on the castle, giving Shiro and Coran hell, and Keith sees what’s made Lance declare that it’s the final straw. The leftmost ship has activated a tractor beam and is angling it towards the grounded green lion and Hunk, still holding his own against masses of fighters.

        “We should retreat,” Keith finally says, “Get everyone safely back to the castle and get Allura to wormhole us the heck out of here.” Keith sighs, “Allura and Pidge boarding that ship was a mistake.” 

         Lance nods pensively.

        “You retreat,” Lance says.

        “What?” Keith’s genuine confusion breaks Lance’s heart, but the blue paladin has made up his mind. He knows what he has to do.

        “You retreat,” Lance says again, “You help Hunk get Pidge and Allura, get back to the castle, and do whatever it takes to keep everyone safe.” 

        Keith shakes his head, sensing where this is going.

        “What are you gonna do?” Keith feels himself trembling as he speaks.

        “I’m gonna draw the fire of the remaining fighters,” Lance replies, trying to sound more confident than he feels, “Once they’re following me, I’ll lead them directly into the beams of the ion cannons.” 

        Keith is already shaking his head, but Lance continues, “That’ll destroy the ships, damage the cannons with debris, or, at least, maybe get them to hold their fire. Then, you can get the others to safety.”

“What the hell, Lance! No!” Keith shouts, “I’m not letting you do this!”

“Look,” Lance breathes heavily out of his nostrils, “The more people that survive, the better. Right now, we need to get Allura and Pidge out! They’re the number one priority.”

“No, Lance,” Keith says, his voice thick with tears, “You’re a priority. You’re my priority!” Keith has to pause,“I need you.” 

         Lance makes a sad smile that Keith has the misfortune to see due to the video communications.

“I’m sorry, Keith,” Lance whispers, “It’s the best way.”

“But—”

“I know Shiro’s back,” Lance continues, tears leaking out of his own eyes now, “but I think you’re gonna be a great leader of Voltron.”

        Keith shakes his head again, “But Lance—”

        “I love you,” Lance says. He wipes away his tears then shuts the communication down before flying off to save his friends. So of course, he doesn’t hear the broken scream that Keith lets out, echoing in the ears of each of the rest of the paladins.

        “Keith!” Shiro exclaims. “Are you okay?” 

        Keith sets his jaw in a firm line.

        “Just take care of the ships and help Hunk,” Keith says, “I’m saving Lance.”

        “We’ll help, too!” Pidge’s voice on the comms causes everyone to breathe a sigh of relief. The green and yellow lions quickly vacate the area surrounding the center ship and begin attacking at will, lashing out wherever may be helpful.

        “Pidge, get the princess back to the castle quick. We’re gonna need a wormhole,” Keith says, “and see if you can override the lock on communications with the blue lion. Get Allura to pilot if you have to.”

        “Got it,” Pidge replies. After receiving her confirmation, Keith searches for Lance in melee and quickly spots him with a gaggle of fighters behind him, trailing after the blue lion like ducklings. Judging by the scorch marks on the lion, Lance’s already made one pass through the ion cannons. While the number of fighters has certainly gone down, the cannons haven’t stopped, and Keith can tell the blue lion is faltering. He blows up several of the fighters following Lance and flies in closer, hoping that he can catch up to Lance before the blue paladin makes another pass.

        “And blue kitty is back on the grid,” Pidge announces, like music to Keith’s ears. He quickly pulls up a video communication with Lance, whose face hardens as soon as he sees Keith’s.

        “Keith get out of here! You have t—”

        “Pidge and Allura are out!” Keith snaps, “Now, stop trying to get yourself killed and help me blow up this ship.” 

         Keith eyes widen as he notices a lone ion cannon, charging up and clearly targeting Lance. 

        “Look out!” Keith cries, accelerating so he can physically knock the blue lion out of the way. They’re both barely clear of the beam when the cannon fires, burning a few unlucky fighters to a crisp.

       “Thanks,” Lance says, breathing hard.

       “Don’t thank me,” Keith replies, “We’re not out of the woods yet.” 

        He doesn’t even look at Lance before flying to touch the actual body of the ship, using the claws of his lion to cut a jagged line down the center. Lance covers Keith as he works, and then as soon as the red paladin is clear, fires continuously down the gaping hole, setting off explosions all down the vessel. Keith is about to fly in for another round when a voice on the comms stops him.

       “Paladins!” Allura urges, “Please return to the castle at once. I’ll be forming a wormhole shortly.” 

        The pair instantly abandons their task, racing towards their respective bays on the castle. After their unfortunate separation during their first big battle with Zarkon, they had all agreed to never wormhole unless all the lions were securely on board. The moment each of the bays locks, however, Allura wormholes away, leaving the flaming Galra ships in the castle’s cosmic dust.

…

As soon as the red lion opens, Keith is out and running, legs pumping as all he can think about is Lance: Lance and whether the blue paladin is okay or not. It seems that Lance is just as worried and even faster than Keith as Keith spots him in the corridor outside the control room. Lance’s face lights up with relief as he sees the red paladin. As Keith barrels towards him, Lance knows he’s in for a lecture. Or a punching, possibly. He deserves it; he knows that too. But he should at least try and apologize to Keith. He can do at least that much.

“I’m sorry, Keith,” Lance calls, “I know it was stupid and reckless and crazy, but I thought it was the best option to save mmph—”

        And he’s cut off by another pair of lips, pressing fiercely to his own.

The kiss is all fire and roughness at first, their teeth even clacking together, but it slowly mellows and slows. The kiss goes from saying “I love you too” to saying ‘We’re okay, and that’s all that matters.’ Lance wraps an arm around Keith’s waist, bringing the other boy closer as the kiss softens. This kiss, the one he could now admit he’d imagined countless times as he lay on his bed staring up at the ceiling trying to sleep, is everything he’d dreamed and more. Keith’s lips are sweet and warm, and he’s holding Lance with such tenderness that Lance feels like he’s going to break. It’s like fireworks are going off in every cell of his body, and Lance is tasting starlight as Keith’s lips touch his. When they eventually break apart, Keith looks deeply into his eyes, and Lance feels a warmth in his heart as he gazes back at the other boy.

That is, until Keith lets go of Lance, and uses his free hand to punch the blue paladin as hard as he can on the shoulder.

“Ow!” Lance yelps, rubbing the area gingerly. “I deserved that,” he concedes.

“Yeah, you did!” Keith fires back, “You can’t just throw your life away like that! You can’t do that without thinking about what you’re doing!”

“You’re ri—”

“And don’t give me that ‘you can always find a new blue paladin’ crap!” Keith yells, his voice reaching fever pitch, “I’ll never find another Lance.” Keith feels angry tears coming out of his eyes and hastily rubs them away, “How can you not think about that?”

“Keith,” Lance starts gently, “I was trying to say ‘you’re right.’”

“What?” Keith blinks back tears.

“You’re right,” Lance hangs his head, “I wasn’t thinking about what might happen or the effects, and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that to you.” 

         Keith lets out a long breath.

“Sacrificing yourself can’t be the nuclear option, Lance,” Keith says, “We’ll have more hard battles in the future. We might have worse situations than what happened today. We’ll have to make tough decisions.” Keith wipes away more unwitting tears, “But we have to make them together. And losing you is never a solution. Okay?” 

         Lance nods.

“Okay,” Lance sees the thin line of Keith’s mouth and makes the decision to take one of Keith’s hands in both of his own, “I promise to never do that again. To never go off on my own like that and never make a suicide mission the last resort.” 

         He raises their joined hands as if in prayer. 

         “I’m sorry,” Lance says again before gently pressing a kiss to Keith’s hand.

“Apology accepted,” Keith says, keeping his voice even, in spite of the fires burning in his cheeks, “We should, uh, go and shower up.”

“Good idea, ha,” Lance looks between their intertwined hands and Keith’s face before drawing his hand back when Keith doesn’t react. 

_         Why is this boy such an idiot _ , Keith thinks after Lance’s withdrawal, not recognizing the irony of his thought. With steadfast determination, Keith retakes one of Lance’s hands, interlacing their fingers.

“Let’s go, Lazer Brain,” Keith says, leading Lance away from the Control Room.

“Your wish is my command,” Lance replies, completely seriously. As the two move farther away, a head pokes out off the control room door, simply observing.

“Shiro,” Coran whisper yells, in his finest attempt at subtlety, “Are Keith and Lance alright?”

“Yeah,” Shiro smiles at the two retreating figures, “I think they just need some alone time right now.”

…

“You should really get some rest, Allura,” Pidge says, yawning, barely looking up from her laptop, “You’ve been through a lot today.” 

        The two of them have been sitting in the control room for the past few hours, decrypting and combing through the information the retrieved from Lotor’s ship earlier.

“So have you,” Allura says archly, “Pidge, we don’t have to look at everything from the Galra ship today.” Her face softens, “Our fight against Zarkon and Lotor is still important but so is your well-being.” 

         Pidge looks up, giving the princess a small smile. In spite of all her hard edges when they had first met, the princess still has a sensitive side. Pidge is just one of the few people who ever gets to see it.

“Thanks, Allura,” Pidge yawns again, “but I can’t sleep. There’s something bothering me about this one file.” Pidge frowns, “I’ve ran my decrypter and translator a bunch of times, but there’s still parts that don’t make any sense.” 

         Allura nods pensively.

“Pull it up on the larger screen,” Allura says. Soon, a sea of Galran characters appear in a strange grid, accompanied by dates and times.

“I think it’s a list,” Pidge says, “or maybe an activity log?” 

         Allura studies it carefully, a fleeting suspicion growing in her mind.

        “And the untranslatable parts?”

        “I’m not sure what they are if the translator won’t work,” Pidge admits, “Maybe, they’re like places or names? Like something that doesn’t have an equivalent in English?”

        “Pidge,” Allura says, mounting anxiety in her voice as she fears the worst may be true, “Can you scroll up to the very top? What’s the first date listed?”

        Pidge’s blood runs cold as she scrolls and recognizes the date instantly.

        “That’s the day they announced everyone on the Kerberos mission was dead!” Pidge cries, “Why would that be on there?”

        “That’s not all,” Allura says softly, “You see those letters next to the date?” 

        Pidge nods. 

        “That’s Shiro’s name in Galran,” Allura chews her lip nervously as she looks up at the screen again, not exactly a princess like behavior, but at this moment, that’s the last thing on her mind. 

        “Could this be a prisoner log?” The princess wonders aloud, “but then, why to go to all that trouble to protect it?”

        “It doesn’t add up,” Pidge affirms, “and I’ve seen Galran prisoner logs when I was looking for my dad and brother. They look nothing like this.” 

        After thinking for a moment, Pidge takes her cursor and hovers it over Shiro’s name, causing a grey box to appear around it. 

        “A linked file?” Pidge murmurs. She clicks on it and is frustrated (but not surprised) when there’s an additional firewall and encryption on the information. 

        “Just give me a minute,” Pidge says, typing furiously. When it finally loads Pidge has to blink, not believing what she’s seeing with her own two eyes. “Is that…”

“It looks like a prototype of Shiro’s arm,” Allura finishes, nodding. Pidge tilts her head to one side, still thoroughly confused.

“It looks there are notes on the side too,” Pidge observes, “Can you read them?” 

        Allura studies them for a moment before visibly flinching.

“Of course, I can,” The princess says stiffly, “They’re in Altean.”

_         Haggar _ , they think in unison, both not wanting to say the druid’s name aloud.

“But why would she write them in Altean?” Pidge questions, “The rest of the log is in Galran! That doesn’t make any sense.” 

         Allura shakes her head.

        “That’s because I don’t think they even have words in Galran for what she’s describing,” Allura says solemnly, “Pidge, this isn’t a prisoner log.” 

        Allura pinches the bridge of her nose, not quite believing what she’s saying, even as she’s saying it, “It’s an experiment log. A log of quintessence experiments that the witch has done.” 

        Pidge involuntarily brings her hand to her mouth.

        “No wonder Lotor didn’t want anyone else to see it,” The green paladin says, “but then, why would he have it? Unless…” 

        Pidge exits out of Shiro’s file and scrolls down to the very bottom of the log, to the most recent dates listed. 

        “Is Lotor’s name on any of these?” Pidge asks, gesturing at the last few rows on the screen. Allura nods and silently points at the third row from the bottom. Pidge clicks on the linked file she now knows is there and bypasses the security measures yet again, although she does notice that it’s a lot more difficult this time. But as yet another schematic loads, Allura and Pidge see something that neither of them could have anticipated. 

        “It’s a bioscan of Zarkon?” Pidge stares dumbly at the screen as the Altean princess zeroes in on the notes, already guessing at what might be there.

        “Zarkon’s dying,” Allura murmurs, her eyes moving rapidly from side to side.

        “That’s good, right?” Pidge asks hesitantly. Allura shakes her head as she keeps reading, her stomach rapidly dropping with each word.

        “Not quite,” The princess says. “Haggar still needs Zarkon’s power if she wants to win this war, and it looks like she’s willing to do anything to keep it.” 

         Allura shudders, “She’s going to fuse Lotor’s quintessence with Zarkon’s, reviving the emperor and—”

        “Basically making an all powerful evil Galra,” Pidge finishes. “Great.”

        “It’s bad,” Allura agrees. “If Lotor’s already out and attacking like this, that means he’s probably preparing for the test. We’ll have a few quintents, maybe less.”

        “So we just have to make the experiment fail.” Pidge smiles wickedly. “I’m guessing you wanna wait till morning to tell the others.”

        “Let them sleep,”  Allura nods. “Pidge, could you go back to the list for a moment?” 

        After the green paladin clicks, Allura quickly scans, searching for what she thought she saw. Her eyes light up as she finds a specific date. 

        “Go to that one,” Allura points. Pidge frowns as she too recognizes the date.

        “Isn’t that when we were at the Balmera?” Pidge asks as the file begins to load. “That’s a weird coincidence.”

        “It’s not a coincidence,” Allura says as the schematics of a strange device appear, unlike anything Allura’s ever seen before. She reads the notes on the side carefully, both terrified and delighted to have her nascent suspicions confirmed, “She detected a huge release of Altean energy that day.”

        “What are you saying?” Pidge asks, wondering if Allura had implied what she just thought the princess had implied.

        “She couldn’t confirm the source,” Allura continues, ignoring Pidge’s question, “but she thought the release was too much to be just me or Coran.”

         Allura reads the rest of the notes silently, much to Pidge’s frustrations. They stand there for a few moments, Allura sticking her tongue out in concentration as she reads. 

        “Pidge,” The princess says eventually, pointing at the strange looking schematic, “Do you think you can build this?”

        “Of course,” Pidge replies, slightly miffed that Allura would even question her ability, “I’d need parts and some translation help, but it looks doable. What is it?” 

         Allura thinks for a moment about the best way to explain.

        “You know Keith’s weapon from the Blade of Marmora? How it only opens for someone with Galra blood?” Allura smiles when Pidge nods, “Well, I believe that this is a similar device, except for someone of Altean descent. Judging by the locking mechanisms at the top and the base, it looks like it could be inserted into a weapon like a staff, that would, then, only open for an Altean.” 

        Allura lets out a deep breath, knowing that she’s about to come clean to Pidge, “I think Haggar has a suspicion that one of the paladins of Voltron is also Altean, and I do as well.”

“Lance,” Pidge says, without missing a beat. She then makes a face when Allura displays a comical level of surprise, “Allura, we’ve all seen Lance with strange glowing cheek markings twice now. It’s not that hard to put two and two together.” 

        Allura takes a moment to regain her composure.

“So you can build it,” Allura says finally, still feeling as if she’s lost some dignity, “If we’re right, this could be the key to stopping Lotor.” 

        Pidge nods, understanding the importance.

“I’ll get started on it right away,” Pidge yawns, then feels the insatiable urge to rub her eyes, “Maybe after a few hours sleep.”

“Of course,” Allura says warmly, “I’ll take you to your room.” 

        The princess has no idea how she’s going to sleep after all they’ve just learned, but she’ll have to try. There’ll be harder days ahead and, soon, rest may not be much of an option. 

…

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Lance mutters as he walks down the corridor to Keith’s room. It’s the dead of night, and Lance has been trying to sleep for ages, but he’s just been wide awake: lying on his bed and thinking of a certain red paladin. Lance can’t get over the memory of Keith’s kiss or how much he’d like to do it again. Lance still feels breathless, like they’d just stopped kissing just moments ago, instead of several hours ago. However, euphoria isn’t the only thing keeping Lance up. He’s painfully aware that they didn’t talk about the kiss afterwards or about Lance’s confession during the battle. It’s not that Lance didn’t mean it. He’s never been more certain of his feelings. But Keith’s lack of response has his mind going haywire, generating all sorts of unfortunate conclusions. So Lance finds himself in front of Keith’s bedroom door, his fist raised to knock. But he doesn’t have to, as the door swings open to reveal a very surprised looking Keith.

“Hey,” Keith says softly, looking at Lance with more fondness than the blue paladin ever thought was possible. Lance realizes his fist is still raised and lowers it hastily, his cheeks flaming.

“Hey,” Lance replies eloquently. “I was gonna apologize for waking you up, but judging by all the lights you have on, I’m guessing you’re not getting any sleep either.” 

        Keith nods.

“Yeah, I got some stuff on my mind,” Keith admits, “I was just gonna go find you, actually.”

“Really?” Lance feels his heart skip a beat.

“Come on in,” Keith says. Lance enters, closing the door behind him. Keith sits on his bed and pats the space beside him. Despite Keith’s welcoming gesture, Lance is still very much aware of the gravity of the situation and perches unsteadily on the edge of the bed, as if ready to flee at any moment.

“You said you had something on your mind?” Lance finally asks, breaking the silence.

“Yeah,” Keith says. He doesn’t want to get hurt. He doesn’t think Lance will hurt him, but it’s still a risk. The rational part of Keith is telling him to be slow and subtle, to build up to the topic he’s trying to broach. But Keith is Keith, so he does what he does best: ripping the band aid right off. “I heard what you said. Right before the communications went down. What did you mean by that?”

        Lance is silent for a moment. Thinking. How do you explain to the person you love what ‘I love you’ means? It seems obvious. Natural. Like how to breathe and how to eat. But Lance sees the doubt and insecurity in Keith’s eyes, the puffiness beneath them, the creases around them. It’s like looking into a mirror. So Lance tries to explain because he’ll be damned if he lets a boy like Keith slip away because he didn’t know how to speak the truth.

“I meant what I said,” Lance starts, “I mean that I love you, Keith. Maybe, it took me a little while to realize it, but I think I’ve always been at least a little in love with you.” Lance swallows hard. “I meant I love your laugh and your weird jokes and how you always make me smile. I love your competitiveness, your spirit. How you always push me to be the best I can be. I love how you can fly and I love how you make me feel like I’m flying, even when I have both feet on the ground.” Lance takes in a deep breath. “I love your weird color-changing eyes, your smile, even your stupid mullet. I love your dorky nicknames and how you still don’t understand the Voltron cheer.” Lance feels like his heart is going to burst, but he needs to finish his words until the end. “So what I mean is I’m stupidly and totally in love with all of you, Keith, the good, the bad, and the annoying. And I don’t think anything’s gonna change that.” 

        Keith, overwhelmed by everything Lance has said, has to take a moment. He doesn’t realize that he’s started crying until Lance reaches up, tenderly brushing away a tear.

“Well,” Keith finally says, “I guess it’s a good thing I’m completely in love with you too.” 

        They both laugh at that, in spite of themselves and in spite of everything. Lance puts his hand on Keith’s cheek, stroking it with his thumb as Keith’s tears subside.

“Can I kiss you again?” Lance breathes, unconsciously leaning forward.

“I thought you’d never ask,” Keith says, smiling as Lance draws their lips back together. Lance feels an overwhelming sense of warmth as Keith kisses him again, and again and again until it’s hard to tell where his mouth ends and where Keith’s begins. Lance cautiously lets his tongue run over Keith’s bottom lip, inducing a small moan from the other boy. Lance grabs Keith’s waist with his other arm, attempting to bring the boy even closer. But alas, Lance’s awkward perch finally fails him as he loses his balance, falling on his back onto the bed and taking Keith with him. Keith can’t help but snort as he clambers off of Lance’s chest, settling comfortably into the space beside him, “Looks like you need some practice, Lazer Brain.”

“Maybe,” Lance admits, “But that’s okay. As long as it’s with you.” 

        Lance grins as Keith is visibly flustered, a dusting of pink immediately appearing on his cheeks.

“You’re the worst,” Keith groans, dramatically covering his face with his hands.

“But you love me,” Lance says, taking one hand to stroke Keith’s hair.

“Unfortunately,” Keith replies, uncovering his face. Lance pretends to be all offended but Keith simply rolls his eyes before turning to give Lance a quick peck on the lips. 

        “Can you turn off the light?” Keith asks, satisfied that it’s Lance’s turn to be flustered.

“Yeah sure,” Lance says, dazedly blinking. It takes him a second longer than it should to locate the light switch by the bed before he flicks it off. 

        “We should probably get some sleep,” he murmurs as he resettles next to Keith, “Otherwise you’ll be super grumpy in the morning.

“Well, that’s your problem,” Keith teases. “You’re the one who has to wake up next to ‘super grumpy’ me in the morning.” 

         Lance simply looks at Keith in the near darkness and smiles fondly.

“Somehow,” Lance says, “I think I can live with it.

…

         The first thing Keith notices when he wakes up is warmth, a pleasant enveloping warmth that makes him want to stay in bed for ten more minutes, something he rarely ever feels. He then realizes that the source of the warmth is one blue paladin, specifically Lance’s arm draped across his waist, and Keith smiles contentedly. As he curls into Lance’s side, Keith wonders if he should pinch himself because of how much it feels like he’s dreaming.

         “Morning, sunshine,” Lance mumbles sleepily, his eyes still closed.

         “Sorry, I woke you up,” Keith says. Lance yawns, rubbing his eyes with both hands. Keith feels the loss of Lance’s warmth keenly, and Lance notices the other boy shiver. He reaches for the blanket, somehow discarded during the night, and drapes it over the two of them before shifting, so they’re both laying on their sides.

         “Not a bad way to be woken up,” Lance says, replacing his hand on Keith’s waist, “Being cuddled by my gorgeous boyfriend.”

         “Boyfriend?” Keith asks, as if he’s never heard the term before. Uncertainty flashes across Lance’s face as he misunderstands Keith.

         “I mean only if you want,” Lance says quickly, “I know some people aren’t into labels or—” 

         Keith silences him with a look.

         “Of course I want you as my boyfriend!” Keith exclaims, “I was just making sure you did.” 

         Lance chuckles, rubbing circles into Keith’s side with his thumb.

         “Keith, I literally confessed my undying love for you last night,” Lance says. “My boyfriend can be such an idiot sometimes.”

          Keith raises an eyebrow, “Weird, I was just thinking the exact same thing.”

         “Hey!” Lance exclaims. He doesn’t protest further, however, as Keith gently presses a kiss to his cheek. 

         “All is forgiven.” Lance smiles and Keith smiles back at him, the two of them still not quite believing that all of this is happening. 

         “Breakfast?” Lance asks, his eyes never leaving Keith’s.

 “Five more minutes?” Keith begs.  Lance nods, now wondering how he’s ever going to refuse this boy anything anymore.

“Five more minutes.”

…

“Hey guys!” Hunk calls, positively beaming as he sees Lance and Keith walking down the hallway together, Lance’s arm around Keith’s waist, “I made space pancakes today, so you better hurry before Pidge eats them all.”

“Did you already eat?” Lance asks.

“Yeah,” Hunk says, “I gotta go do some repairs on Yellow. That battle was cray-z.” 

         Keith nods sympathetically.

“Let us know if you need any help,” Keith says.

“Thanks,” Hunk grins. 

        “Have fun, you guys,” He says, giving them both a double thumbs up before continuing on his way.

“I think it’s safe to say we have Hunk’s approval,” Lance says as soon as the yellow paladin is out of earshot. 

        Keith makes a contented ‘mmm,’ nuzzling against Lance’s side, “Now let’s get some of those pancakes.”

“Agreed.”

Allura and Pidge are noticeably absent from the dining room, but Coran and Shiro are still at the table, catching up, until Keith and Lance walk in, causing them both to stop.

“It’s nice to see you two getting along,” Coran says, a knowing twinkle in his eyes. Shiro hadn’t told him everything he’d seen from Keith and Lance’s reunion last night, but after Lance’s poignant admission on the comms, Coran had suspected as much. Lance is simply radiating happiness as Keith blushes, and the older Altean feels a rush of warmth for the two paladins. 

_        They’ve been through so much _ , Coran thinks,  _ this is the least they deserve _ . He smiles as Lance dramatically pulls out a chair for Keith, who pretends to be annoyed while obviously loving it.

“Congrats, you guys,” Shiro says, nodding his agreement with Coran. Shiro’s face gives Keith the vague idea that he’ll be hearing about this later, but strangely, he doesn’t mind in the least. Impulsively, he decides to grab Lance’s hand. Lance is a little surprised but smiles and squeezes Keith’s hand firmly. As they eat, they stay like that, paying no mind to the awkwardness of one handed eating.

“Lance,” Coran says as the boys are nearly finished, “Can I steal you away after breakfast? I’m gonna need some help going through all the information Pidge and Allura collected from Lotor’s ship yesterday.”

         In reality, Allura had told him to keep Lance busy (not really giving a reason), so Coran had to come up with something. Allura hadn’t given him anything more than a series of coordinates to plot, but he figured it would at least keep the blue paladin occupied.

“Sure thing,” Lance says through his last mouthful of pancake. He gives Keith’s hand another squeeze before standing up and releasing it. As he leaves with Coran, Lance smiles at Keith in farewell, maintaining the flush in the red paladin’s cheeks.

“Well,” Shiro says, his voice full of amusement, “If you’re up for it, Keith, I’d like to hit the training deck.” 

        Keith nods, then, frowns.

“Are you sure you’re back up to full strength yet?” Keith observes his brother carefully, searching for any signs of ill health.

“Keith to get back to full strength I have to get back to training,” Shiro says, “Besides, I’d like to try fighting with this thing.” 

        He looks down at his new Altean arm, the white metal gleaming in the light. 

        “I’m still not quite used to it,” the black paladin admits, “but I have to be able to be able to fight and fly. I’m not sitting another battle out again.”

“Wait,” Keith says, thinking of something, “Don’t you have your bayard back now?”

“Yes,” Shiro says tersely, indicating that the topic isn’t up for further discussion.

“Alright,” Keith shrugs, “Training deck it is.”

…

_Shiro’s changed_ , Keith realizes as they take on the gladiator. Visibly, he’s not the same while fighting. When Shiro splays his fingers, the glow is turquoise, not purple, and Shiro’s new hand can also shoot bolts of white light, much to the chagrin of a (now fried) gladiator. There isn’t quite the same darkness or the same furrowing of brow when Shiro activates his hand, Keith notices. 

_         This new arm is truly his own _ , Keith thinks _ , and he doesn’t have to be reminded of what the Galra did to him everytime he uses it _ . 

        Shiro, in passing, had mentioned some of those feelings to Keith before, but now, Keith really sees it in the lightness of Shiro’s feet and the genuine desire to improve, not just to survive. As the next level gladiator drops out of the ceiling, there’s an actual spring in Shiro’s step as he gears up to face his newest opponent. And in spite of everything that’s happened, Shiro’s genuinely happy. Keith can’t help the smile that creeps up as his brother easily parries the blows of the gladiator before using the robot’s weapon against it to send it crashing down.

“End training sequence,” Shiro says, breathing heavily. He walks back over to Keith, wiping sweat from his brow. 

        “You okay?” Shiro asks, “You seemed like you were spacing out a little.”

“I’m fine,” Keith replies, “I’m just really, really glad you’re back.” 

        Shiro looks at his little brother for a moment before wrapping him in a tight embrace. Keith tries to keep from crying but, unwittingly, a tear leaks out as he rests his head on Shiro’s chest.  

        “I was a total mess after you disappeared, Shiro,” Keith admits.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Shiro murmurs, “I hope you know I wasn’t trying to abandon you.”

“I know,” Keith says, “It was still hard.” He lets out a weak laugh, “And I was kinda a dick to everyone when I was trying to ‘lead Voltron’ like you asked.” 

         Shiro exhales.

“I should never have put that pressure on you,” Shiro concedes, “That’s on me.”

“Don’t disagree with you,” Keith deadpans. Shiro laughs and releases his brother, only so he can ruffle Keith’s hair with his free hands.

“I won’t do it again,” Shiro says, “Both the disappearing and the overbearing. Promise.” 

        Keith holds out his pinky expectantly. For whatever reason, Keith had gotten super fixated on the idea of a ‘pinky promise’ when they were kids and would never believe Shiro would do anything unless there was a shaking of pinkies. 

_          It’s nice to know some things never change _ , Shiro thinks as he links their pinkies, shaking vigorously. 

         “Now, Keith,” Shiro’s voice has a conspiratorial lilt that immediately has Keith worried, “Since I’ve been gone a long time, you need to get me caught up.”  Shiro’s actually already heard quite a lot from Hunk and Coran, but life is full of small pleasures and messing with his younger brother is one that he’s missed dearly.

“Sure,” Keith says, already sensing where the conversation is going, “What do you wanna know?” 

         Shiro grins.

“How are things with Lance?” Shiro doesn’t know what’s more gratifying: the flush that dusts Keith’s cheeks or the dopy smile that spreads up Keith’s face.

“Great,” Keith says happily, “Just great.” 

         Shiro gestures with his hand for more information. 

        “He just understands me,” Keith continues. “He’s not afraid to call out my crap, but he supports me through it anyway. He helped me so much after you left, even if I kinda made him hate me at first.” Keith’s face grows serious, “He makes me happy, Shiro, in a way that nobody ever has before.”

“And I’m glad for you,” Shiro says, putting a hand on Keith’s shoulder. Shiro’s eyes twinkle with mirth, “I still want to talk to Lance about his, uh, _intentions_. Just to be sure.”

“Shiro!” Keith cries. “This is why I never tell you anything.”

“Hey guys!” Hunk calls from the entrance to the training deck, “You mind if we join you?” 

        He’s accompanied by Lance, who has a love struck expression on his face. Keith, slightly worried, immediately gravitates towards his boyfriend.

“You okay?” Keith asks as Shiro calls a friendly greeting to Pidge, who wanders into the room after them. Lance nods, still looking dazed.

“Do I really make you that happy, Keith?” At Lance’s question Keith blushes, ducking his head sheepishly.

“You heard all that, huh?” Keith asks. Lance makes a noncommittal gesture with his hand.

“A little bit,” Lance fixes Keith with a smile before leaning down to press a quick kiss to his lips. Shiro can’t help but be proud, even as he makes a mental note to talk to Lance in private later. 

        “So, are we all gonna fight the gladiator?” Keith asks, “or do like the drone exercise?”

“Oh, I hate the drone exercise,” Pidge protests.

“I second the motion,” Hunk says, “What about the invisible maze?” 

        Shiro and Pidge snicker as Lance draws a deep breath.

“Absolutely not!” Lance exclaims, “I have gone this entire morning without being shocked, and I’m not about to start now.” 

         Keith raises an eyebrow.

“Well, if you actually listen, that won’t be a problem,” Keith laughs as Lance lets out a sigh.

“You’re the worst,” Lance says, conceding defeat, “Alright alright. I’ll do the maze.” 

         The paladins around him whoop and cheer. 

         “But only if Shiro goes first.”

        Cue more raucous cheering, sans Shiro.

“Is this your idea of bonding as a team again?” Shiro asks. “Ganging up on me?”

“Yes,” they all chorus sweetly. Shiro gets the unnerving feeling he’s just discovered what it’s like to have kids.

“Okay,” Shiro says, “but Hunk is leading me through. I trust him to not run me into a wall more than any of you.”

…

     “Lance, can I talk to you?” Pidge asks when they finally power down the maze. She’d originally come to the training deck to find the blue paladin, but had gotten distracted by the exercise they were doing. It;s nice to hang out like a normal group of friends again, but the fact is they’re still at war. They don’t have the leeway to act like kids anymore.

     “Sure, Pidge. What’s up?” Lance is currently attached to Keith, his arm around the red paladin’s waist. 

_      That could be difficult _ , Pidge thinks as she struggles to come up with her bullshit answer.

      “Oh, nothing. Just the princess and I need you for something. Something important. And private,” Pidge tries to put on her most dazzling smile as Lance and Keith give her quizzical looks.

      “Can you be any more vague?” Keith asks. After the battle, he hasn’t been particularly inclined to let Lance out of his sight, and Pidge’s suspicious behavior isn’t exactly helping. Lance shakes his head and gives Keith a reassuring squeeze.

      “It’s fine, Keith. I’ll go.” Lance’s words do little to change the thin line of Keith’s lips. “Babe, I’ll be fine,” Lance affirms. He gives Keith a kiss on the cheek which elicits a contented ‘mmm’ from the red paladin.

      “You guys are so cute together,” Pidge says, unable to help herself. She half expects Keith to tell her to put a cork in it, but instead, he and Lance just look at each other, smiling. 

      “Come on, lover boy. Let’s go.” Pidge physically grabs Lance’s arm, knowing that if she doesn’t they could spend all day like that.

      “Alright, slow down Pidge, what’s the rush?” Lance asks after Pidge has dragged him for some meters. “And why are we in front of Allura’s room?”

      Pidge looks around cautiously before answering Lance.

      “Okay, Allura told me not to tell you, but I think you need to know,” Pidge says cryptically. “You know how much I hate secrets.” 

      Lance ruefully recalls the time the green paladin had shouted at him about the potential secret about her family. 

      “But basically, Allura and Coran think you’re Altean, and I built a device that Haggar designed to test that theory.” 

      Lance’s jaw hits the floor. Pidge realizes she could have been a bit more tactful in her explanation, but she doesn’t have much time to wonder as she hears an ominously familiar throat-clearing behind her.

      “Pidge,” Allura says, emerging from her room. “What did I say about, I don’t know,  _ not _ telling Lance?” She makes a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes.

      “He has a right to know!” Pidge hisses. “That’s not a fair secret to keep, Allura. You should know that!”

      “Whatever,” Allura says hastily, “What’s done is done now. Just get inside before you let the whole castle know!” 

      She reopens the bedroom door, ushering them both inside.

      “Hold the phone!” Lance exclaims, “How long have you thought I’m Altean?”

      “Well, you wouldn’t be full Altean,” Allura says. “Otherwise, you’d have markings full time and the ears.”

      Lance gives her a withering look. 

      “But Coran and I have suspected ever since you first told us about your powers,” Allura finally answers.

      “Really?” Lance thinks for a moment, “I guess that makes a lot more sense than me suddenly becoming quintessence sensitive because of Haggar. I guess the glowing markings are what gave me away?” 

      Allura shakes her head.

      “I was convinced at the Balmera, when you were able to produce the name Abaldur,” Allura says, “Only an Altean could have done that.”

      “But you want firm proof,” Lance adds, “That’s why you need the device thing Pidge mentioned.”

      “Precisely. Records and bioscans haven’t worked, so we have to try a different approach,” Allura says.  “Lance, I realize this may be difficult to process, but just think about.” The princess pauses. “Then we’ll know for sure if you’re like me and Coran. If you’re really family.” Allura’s eyes mist over for a moment before she blinks away the hope and fear that threatens to swallow her all at once. She clears her throat. “Not to mention, If we know you’re Altean, we have a much better understanding of your powers, and we know how to train you! You’ll be an even bigger asset to our fight!”

      “Okay,” Lance says, “I’ll do it.”

      “Huh,” Pidge says, “I honestly expected you to freak out more.”

      “I had my own suspicions,” Lance admits, “Especially after Keith mentioned the markings to me. I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t do it.” Lance pauses, “I just wanna know how the device works.”

       “It’s simple,” Pidge says, picking up a blue and white cylinder from Allura’s dresser that almost looks like a kaleidoscope, “I’m not Altean. No staff.” 

       Pidge tosses the cylinder to Allura which instantly elongates and widens into a fully formed Altean war staff as soon as it touches her hand, “She’s Altean. It works.” 

       Allura tosses the staff back to Pidge and it reverts to its cylindrical form. 

       “Your turn,” Pidge holds out the cylinder to Lance, the metal humming in her hand. 

_        What do I have to lose _ , Lance wonders as he looks between the device and Allura’s expectant face. Closing his eyes he reaches out, taking the cylinder from Pidge’s outstretched hand.

…

“So you’re Altean?” Shiro asks. They’ve all crowded into Allura’s room, immediately summoned by Pidge after their discovery.

“I guess so,” Lance says, nonchalantly twirling the Altean war staff in his hands (as one does).

“I’m so glad,” Coran says emphatically. The older Altean was almost unbearably emotional after learning the news, and Allura had offered him a handkerchief three times over the course of the conversation due to his constant sniffling.

“I’d thought you’d be more excited, Lance,” Allura says disappointedly. “You can finally harness your powers! You can begin your official training with me tomorrow!” 

        Lance thinks back to their first few days of training on the castle, specifically when Allura set the castle defenses on them as an ‘exercise.’

“Can’t wait,” Lance replies.

“Good,” The princess says, “We’ll need you at full strength if we want any hope of defeating Prince Lotor.”

“Hang on,” Keith butts in, “What does Lotor have to do with Lance?” 

        Pidge and Allura exchange looks.

“We got some other information when we searched the ship,” Pidge says quietly, “Haggar’s been doing experiments with quintessence.”

“Thanks for telling us!” Hunk exclaims.

“We wanted to be sure about Lance first,” Allura explains coldly, “Haggar’s planning on doing an experiment with Lotor, and we need more than one person who can fight with Altean magic if we plan on stopping her.”

“What’s the experiment?” Lance asks.

“Well,” Allura starts. “It’s—”

“Haggar wants to take dying Zarkon and Lotor and fuse them with quintessence, so she can create the ultimate magic Galra super soldier to take down Voltron.” 

        Everyone just stares at Pidge, including Allura. 

        “What?” Pidge asks the princess, “My explanation was quicker.”

“Now back up,” Shiro says, “How much time do we have before Haggar attempts this experiment?”

“Judging from the date and where it was in the experiment log, we have a few days, tops,” Pidge answers.

“Okay, now that you’re ‘sure about Lance,’” Hunk says, “We _all_ need to see that information _now_. It sounds like we have to get moving.”

“The Blade of Marmora!” Lance exclaims. Now, everyone looks at him as the blue paladin has mostly been quiet during this exchange, “Shouldn’t we call them for reinforcements or something?”

         Allura murmurs her assent, but Keith chews his lip, not completely buying it. He knows Lance. He’s sure the other boy is either stalling or freaking out or probably both. He has to get everyone out, so he can talk to Lance. But the blue paladin beats him to the punch, announcing,

“I gotta go,” before getting up and taking the war staff with him. Keith moves to follow Lance, but Shiro is quicker and already out the door before Keith’s even taken a step. While slightly disappointed, Keith trusts his brother knows what he’s doing. 

_         I can find Lance later _ , Keith decides.

“Right,” Allura says, trying to refocus the remaining paladins, “The rest of you can come with us to the control room. Pidge and I can show you everything and give you an idea of what we’re planning.” 

        As they all file out of the room, Keith feels completely disconnected from the urgency of what Allura’s talking about, his thoughts only with a blue-eyed boy who forms his universe.

…

“Lance?” Shiro knocks on Lance’s bedroom door one more time, “Are you in here?”

“No,” Lance deadpans. He opens the door, allowing the black paladin to come inside.

“This news must be a lot to process,” Shiro says, deciding that’s a safe enough conversation opener.

“I did suspect it a little,” Lance admits, “It’s just different knowing that it’s real.” Lance sighs, “Especially with the powers, I feel like I’m a whole different person now. Or alien, I guess.” 

         Lance forces a short laugh at that.

        “That’s the thing,” Shiro says, “And I know it doesn’t feel like it now, but you’re still the same you, Lance. You’re still the heart of this family, the glue of team Voltron. You’re a leader, the sharpshooter, and, so much more than that.” Shiro pauses, “You literally saved my life Lance. And I’m not sure if ever thanked you properly for that. So I’m doing it now. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Lance waves him off, but Shiro persists.

“Not many people could have done what you did, Lance,” Shiro smiles, “I can see why Keith likes you.” 

Lance immediately ducks his head, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Just make sure you treat my brother right, okay?”

“Of course,” Lance says, deadly serious. Shiro regards him for a moment before giving him a nod of approval and moving on.”

“You’ve also done an incredible job with the team without me!” Shiro admires, “So that’s another thing I owe you, Altean or not.”

        “Well,” Lance admits, “I couldn’t have done it without Keith.” 

         Shiro shakes his head, “You couldn’t have done it without each other.”

…

         “Keith?” Lance asks. Keith makes a noncommittal mumbling noise, instead electing to nuzzle Lance’s shoulder as his form of response. After Shiro left, Keith had eventually found Lance in his bed. After bringing the other boy some dinner and eating, Keith had lain down next to him. They hadn’t been talking, just breathing and enjoying each other’s company. But now, Lance needs to speak. He can’t avoid what he’s thinking any longer. 

         “Do you think it’s weird that I’m Altean?” Lance asks, sitting up.

         “No,” Keith replies immediately, sitting up himself, “Why?”

         “I don’t know,” Lance admits, “It’s just… a lot to process.” Lance laughs softly, “I guess you would know the feeling.” 

         Keith nods.

         “Yeah,” Keith sits quietly for a moment, “Lance, you remember when we first found out I was Galra?”

         “How could I forget?” Lance asks ruefully.

         “You were the first person to defend me,” Keith says, “You were the first person to say that I’m still normal, that I was still Keith. And that me being Galra didn’t suddenly change all that.”

         Keith takes one of Lance’s hands and gives it a firm squeeze,“That’s how you felt about me, so why should I feel any different about you?”

         “I guess you have a point,” Lance admits, “Thanks, Keith.” 

         Keith smiles, pulling his boyfriend in for a warm hug.

         “Anytime,” Keith mumbles into Lance’s shoulders. They stay like that for a long time before properly lying down and, eventually, falling asleep in each other’s arms, resting for the bigger battle to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up Next: Shit goes down w/ Haggar and Lotor


	9. The Wicked Witch of the West

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The paladins prepare to take down Haggar and tensions are running high. Shiro still doesn’t quite feel like a member of Team Voltron again and the past continues to haunt Allura. In the heat of battle, an old friend returns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okie dokie some warnings about this specific chapter!! 
> 
> There is part of a fight scene that gets a little bloody/graphic and there is some slight body horror in the descriptions of Haggar's experiment. 
> 
> These things are quite brief in this chapter but if that does really squick you, don't read the section from /"It’s working,” Haggar says"/ to /“Yeah, I still don’t follow,”/ and the section from /It’ll melt through the floor eventually/ to /“No!” Haggar yells/.

 

“How much longer do we have to wait?” Keith asks Lance as they both get dressed for the day, “I’m more than ready to take out Haggar’s ass with a fire blast.”

“Keith! Watch your fucking language!” Lance doubles over in laughter as Keith fixes him with a withering look.

“Why do I put up with you?” Keith asks with a faux sigh.

“No idea.” Lance smiles and blows Keith a kiss, even though they’re literally four feet away from each other. Keith shakes his head, showing his disapproval.

“You can do better than that.” Keith’s words walk a fine line between competitive and flirtatious, but either way, they’re successful. The blue paladin takes a few steps until he’s standing directly in front his boyfriend before cupping Keith’s cheeks and pulling him in for a deep kiss.

“Better?” Lance asks after he pulls away. Keith nods.

“Much better.” Keith smiles up at Lance, and Lance can’t help but pull Keith in for another quick kiss before wrapping his boyfriend in a tight hug.

“We still have to wait,” Lance says. “To answer your original question, the experiment is happening within the next two days, and Allura doesn’t want us to move closer too early. Otherwise, we’ll tip off Haggar too soon.” Lance feels Keith frown into his shoulder. “Relax, Keith. We’ll wormhole to the exact location when the time is right.”

“When did we find out the exact experiment date?” Keith asks, removing his head from Lance’s shoulder, so he can make direct eye contact with the blue paladin. Keith’s gotten to a point where he doesn’t have to feel like he’s completely in control of everything that’s happening. Especially with Shiro back, Keith’s been more than happy to let others take the reins on planning and more important issues. He doesn’t have to worry about micromanaging everything anymore, now that he’s getting the support he needs. But still, this is the experiment to potentially revive Zarkon by fusing him with Lotor using quintessence. Keith is more than a little peeved at being left out of the loop.

“Just a few hours ago,” Lance admits, “You were asleep, so I went to the control room, and Allura and Pidge told me. Apparently, the Blade of Marmora sent us the intel.”

“Of course, those two are already up,” Keith says, “so _that’s_ why you were already so awake this morning!” 

Lance nods.

“I wanted to let you sleep,” Lance says, “I think I literally did acrobatics to get over you and off of your bed without making any noise.” 

Keith shakes his head incredulously.

“I’m usually such a light sleeper,” Keith says, “and I never sleep in this late!” 

Lance smiles, and presses a kiss to Keith’s forehead.

“You need the rest,” Lance’s voice is soft.

“Can’t have me falling asleep in the red lion, I guess,” Keith snarks, but Lance hears a tired note in his voice.

“Well yes,” Lance admits. “But I also worry about you a lot, so there’s that too.” 

Keith blushes, still unable to help himself at the littlest things Lance says.

“Don’t you make me worry about _you_ in this battle, Lance,” Keith admonishes, “We made the ‘no more stupid, reckless shit’ pact, remember?”

Lance nods and pulls Keith back in for a tight hug.

“I love you,” Lance whispers, his words echoing around the empty room. It’s not like Lance never says it. After his mid battle realization that he needed to tell Keith about his feelings before he died, Lance has made it his personal mission to make sure Keith always knows he’s loved, so Lance says those three words at least once a day, often more. But their frequency has done nothing to diminish the feeling. Keith still feels a tingling feeling from head to toe every time Lance says it.

“I love you too,” Keith says, nestling his head against Lance’s shoulder. They stay like that for a moment, content to simply breathe and be with each other. 

        “Lance?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I talk to you about something?” Keith asks, his voice wavering.

“Of course,” Lance says. “Anything.” 

         Keith smiles against Lance before his face grows serious. “I’m worried about Shiro.”

…

“There,” Pidge says, dusting her hands off with a great sense of accomplishment. “Better?” 

         Shiro experimentally flexes his fingers before trying a few shoulder rolls.

“Much better!” Shiro exclaims. “Thanks, Pidge.” 

        Shiro smiles as Pidge makes an affirmative nod. After less than a week of using his arm, he’d encountered a strange pinching feeling around his knuckles and at the attachment point, so this morning, he’d sought out Pidge, looking for a quick fix. He’s anxious enough about the upcoming battle as is; the last thing he needs is his prosthetic malfunctioning at the worst possible time.

“Come back to me if you have any more problems,” Pidge says. “I didn’t really get a chance to test that thing for long term wear and tear, so we’ll probably have to keep tweaking it as we run into things.Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Shiro waves off her apology. “This beats the pants off my Galra arm any day.” 

        Pidge lets out a short laugh, but her mind has clearly moved somewhere else. 

        “Everything okay?” Shiro asks. He puts his hands on his hips, trying to emulate an authoritative figure.Pidge sighs.

“Allura told you about the transmission we got from the Blade this morning, right?” Pidge asks.

“Is this about the rebel group the Blade mentioned? The one near Haggar that might help us out?” Shiro counters. He puts a hand on Pidge’s shoulder as he sees a deep sadness in the green paladin’s eyes. 

        “I was hoping the earthlings they mentioned were Matt and Sam, too,” Shiro admits.

“It’s not just that,” Pidge says. She takes off her glasses to rub her eyes before putting them back on. “They said the leader of the group called himself ‘Kit.’”

“Yeah,” Shiro says hesitantly. “Is that weird?”

“No it’s just…” Pidge’s voice trails off. “I feel like I’ve heard the name before. Like déjà vu or something.” Pidge frowns, “Never mind. It’s probably nothing.” Pidge thinks for a moment, debating whether or not to say what else she’s thinking. “Are you ready for the battle?” 

        Shiro knows what she’s really asking and doesn’t blame her for wondering it. 

“I’m not gonna lie. Facing Haggar again does scare me a bit,” Shiro admits. “I mean, the last time I fought hand to hand with her, she kicked my ass.” Shiro freezes, wondering for a moment if it’s appropriate to say ‘ass’ in front of Pidge before moving on. 

_         The deed is already done _ , he decides. 

        “But I can’t let that scare me,” Shiro pauses. “At least, I can’t let that stop me from focusing on the mission,” the black paladin amends. 

        Pidge nods.

“You’re not using your bayard.” It’s a statement not a question, and Pidge notices Shiro blanche at her words.

“No.” Shiro sighs, “I still haven’t gotten used to thinking that it’s ‘my’ bayard instead of Zarkon’s.” He looks down. “I’ve only ever seen it in action when he was using it, so it’s hard to imagine myself using it in battle.” 

         Pidge's jaw drops.

“You’ve never even tried your bayard?” It’s definitely a rude question to ask, but Pidge does so anyway, baffled by Shiro’s calm resolve on the matter.

“I’m more used to hand to hand combat anyway,” Shiro says, flexing his new arm. “If I change everything up right before a mission, that could be a disaster.” 

        Pidge nods, understanding his logic, but her mouth is still in a skeptical line. 

        “I’ll learn to use my bayard eventually, Pidge,” Shiro assures her, “but we have to complete this mission first.”

“As long as you’re sure,” Pidge says, impressed by Shiro’s strength. Shiro nods.

        “I need to face Haggar,” Shiro says, his jaw a firm line, “bayard or not.” His gaze softens. “And we’ll find Matt and Sam after the mission,” Shiro promises. “I swear.”

        Pidge smiles before hugging Shiro.

“Thanks,” she whispers, feeling the truth behind Shiro’s words.

“Of course,” Shiro says, feeling a twinge of warmth in his heart. “You know, Pidge, you may be Matt’s little sister, but you’re my little sister too. Remember that.”

        Pidge scrunches her eyes tightly shut, trying to prevent any tears from escaping.

“Okay.” She breaks away from Shiro and sends him a winning smile. 

        “Come on,” she says. “If we’re late to this briefing, Allura will kill us before the Galra do.”

…

“There they are,” Keith whispers to Lance as Shiro and Pidge finally enter the control room. Coran had done some reconnaissance in a pod equipped with Pidge’s cloaking device and reported that Haggar’s ship had finally stopped moving, causing Allura to assemble a team meeting. 

_         It’s nearly time _ , Keith thinks shakily. He casts a sideways look at Lance, who immediately feels what Keith’s thinking. 

“We’ll be okay,” Lance breathes. He grabs Keith’s hand and gives it a quick, reassuring squeeze. “and if you’re still that hung up, go talk to Shiro.”

“I thought you told me not to worry about him,” Keith replies, frowning. Lance shrugs.

“Yeah, but I know you’ll do that anyway.” Lance can’t help but smile as Keith rolls his eyes. “Just ask him how he’s doing,” Lance says, giving Keith a gentle nudge with his arm. “I promise I won’t be jealous.” 

         Keith sticks out his tongue at Lance before walking over to Shiro. Lance can’t make out what they’re saying, but Lance sees Keith say something to his brother, causing Shiro to raise an eyebrow. Keith immediately puts his hands up in a placating gesture and Shiro’s face breaks into a warm smile. Then Keith says something that causes them both to laugh, which makes Lance’s heart melt more than just a little. If he could take a bath in Keith’s laughter, he would.

“I see you and Keith are still going strong then,” Pidge says. Lance didn’t notice her walking over but is too engrossed in looking at Keith to be properly startled.

“Mmm.” Lance says, thoughtfully resting his chin on his palm. Pidge can’t help but laugh at that.

“I’m happy for you two,” the green paladin says, “I really am. Even if your PDA can be over the top sometimes.”

“Isn’t he the most beautiful boy you’ve ever seen?” Lance asks, still not taking his eyes off of Keith.

“Absolutely,” Pidge says, happy to humor her friend. “Absolutely.”

“Alright!” Allura exclaims, causing Lance and Pidge to jump. “Now that we’re all here, I’d like to review the assault plan.” 

        Everyone circles up around the princess, ready to focus. “Now first, Shiro, Lance, and I will have to infiltrate the ship. The goal is for us to remain undetected for as long as possible to avoid a prolonged conflict.”

“I still don’t like this plan,” Keith mutters, looking across the circle at Lance. He understands that he can’t and shouldn’t protect Lance from everything, but that doesn’t mean he has to be happy about putting his boyfriend in massive amounts of danger.

“Noted, Keith,” Allura says coolly, “but this plan is the most logical. We’re the ones who have the best chance if we have to engage in magical combat with Haggar.”

“I know.” Keith nods. “Carry on.” 

        Allura squints at him before continuing.

“Now, the castle will wormhole into one of the rings of the nearby planet Emphris,” Allura says, “Again, we don’t want to reveal the castle’s presence until absolutely necessary. Same goes for you, Keith, Hunk, and Pidge.” 

         Allura turns to address the other three paladins, “I want you all to stay close the ship but not close enough to be spotted. You’re only to provide cover fire if we’ve been exposed.” 

         The three nod their solemn understanding. 

        “Pidge, did you run the final tests on the new cloaking mechanisms?”Allura asks. In preparation for the mission, Pidge had installed the cloaking device from the green lion onto the rest of the lions, thinking it would be useful in circumstances such as these.

“Affirmative,” Pidge says. Keith opens his mouth to question, but Pidge cuts him off, “I tested Red while you were asleep. It’s fine.” 

        Keith isn’t sure whether to feel impressed or violated.  _ I sleep in once and I miss everything _ , he thinks ruefully.

“Alright!” Allura says, clapping her hands together, “And Coran you know what do? Even if the reinforcements from the Blade of Marmora don’t get here in time?” 

“I won’t let you down, princess,” Coran says.

“Then, everyone make any final preparations,” Allura says. “We leave in twelve dobashes.” 

        “Dobashes are minutes.” Hunk whispers to a puzzled looking Shiro. 

        Everyone breaks from the circle after that, and Lance quickly makes his way over to Keith.

“Everything alright?” Lance asks, not so subtly gesturing at Shiro.

“Yeah,” Keith says, genuinely relaxed. “He can take care of himself.”

“Good,” Lance smiles before his face turns deadly serious. “Please be careful. I know we talked about this before but—”

“I get it,” Keith says. “Me too.” He holds out his arms, and Lance accepts the invitation, pulling Keith in for a warm hug.“You know if you think about it, we’ve never _not_ survived a battle.” Keith feels the vibrations of Lance’s laughter through his chest.

“That’s true,” Lance admits. “So I guess we have nothing to worry about.” 

         Lance presses a kiss to the top of Keith’s head before breaking the embrace. 

         “You ready?” He asks, eyes locked with Keith’s. 

          Keith nods. “I’m ready.”

…

“We made it!” Lance exclaims as he walks down a dimly lit metal corridor with Allura and Shiro. Shiro smiles, but Allura doesn’t appreciate their achievement of sneaking aboard quite as much. This ship had a suspiciously low guard, similar to Lotor’s ship, and all of Allura’s instincts are telling her they could be walking into a well laid trap.

“Just keep your voice down,” Allura hisses. “Don’t just announce to all the Galra that we’re here.” She walks a few paces ahead of the group, her mouth set in a thin line. 

“Don’t mind Allura,” Shiro assures the blue paladin, “She’s just tense. I mean, we all are.”

“Even you?” Lance asks, surprised, but also relieved. “I mean, I guess that makes sense.”

“Is this when you ask about me about my bayard?” Shiro counters.

        “I wasn’t gonna mention it! I swear!” Lance protests. He lowers his voice, remembering Allura’s outburst. “Keith said it was a touchy subject.”

        Shiro can’t help but smile at Lance’s emphatic words.

“Thanks,” Shiro frowns, “Allura?” He takes a few more steps to stand beside the princess, who appears to have simply stopped walking, “What’s wrong?”

“The path forks,” Allura says desolately. She taps the arm of her suit and pulls up the rough ship schematic Pidge had found on Lotor’s ship. Allura pinches the bridge of her nose, exhaling in frustration. 

        “It looks like this part of the ship is entirely new,” Allura murmurs as she scrolls through the entire plan, “We’ll have to split up.” 

         Lance’s brow furrows but not at Allura’s words. As he looks around the intersection, his eye is caught on a line on the ceiling. Formed by two parallel pieces of metal, it goes down middle of the hallway, as if marking a border between the two paths. There’s something about it that bothers Lance, but he can’t quite place why. 

“Alright then,” Shiro says, “I’ll take the right. Lance and Allura, you take the left.”

“Wait,” Lance says, the gears in his head spinning as he tries to figure out his intuition.

“Lance, please don’t argue,” Shiro says, misinterpreting the blue paladin, “You still haven’t mastered your powers. Just go with Allura. I can take care of myself.” 

         Allura, not remotely in the mood to be patient, roughly grabs Lance’s arm, dragging him towards the left fork of the path. But then Lance connects the dots and violently tries to pull himself out of Allura’s grip.

        “Guys wait do—” Lance’s words are cut off by an eerie crackling sound as a stream of lasers emerges from the line in the ceiling. They blaze to the floor, forming a sparking purple wall that effectively separates Allura and Lance from Shiro. 

         “No!” Allura yells. She doesn’t even have to touch the barrier to know it’s weaponized. 

         “It’s a trap,” Lance finishes quietly, cursing himself for not realizing a moment sooner.

         “I knew it,” Allura sighs, also mentally beating herself up. She doesn’t allow herself to dwell, however, as she hears the faint sounds of metal on metal coming from the open corridor. 

         “We’ve got to go,” Allura says,  relinquishing her grip on Lance.“Shiro,” She calls, “Just head down your corridor, and let us know over the comms if you find Haggar. We’ll find another way to get to you.”

         “Got it,” Shiro says, immediately bounding off down the right corridor.

         “Get ready, Lance!” Allura’s shout carries all the way down to Shiro, “We’ve got company.” 

_          They’re not the only ones _ , Shiro thinks as a group of Galra sentries comes into view and he steels himself for the fight to come.  _ Alright, time to see what this baby can do _ . 

          He quickly flicks his wrist to activate his new hand, a turquoise glow instantly traveling up his sleeve. He feels a strange lightness, one that he’s never felt while fighting, as he runs towards the soldiers, his movements fluid as he kicks the blaster out of the first sentry’s hands before bringing the Galra down with a satisfying punch to the neck. Shiro immediately whirls around, hearing the imminent blaster shot before he sees it. He ducks to avoid the blast, using his momentum to kick out the soldier’s legs before slicing across its chest with his hand. It’s almost like Shiro is dancing as he moves between the guards, cutting them down with the grace of a deadly ballerina. After the last sentry falls, Shiro begins to run, eager to get further into the ship. 

          When he reaches a right turn, Shiro wants takes a moment to catch his breath. He hasn’t seen any guards for a while now, and is growing uneasy. He considers asking for back up, but immediately dismisses the idea. He’s back to being a full time paladin now.  _ I can do this myself _ . Shiro begins walking again, his eyes darting from side to side in search of any potential threat. He makes it a few more meters before his sense that something’s wrong returns. Call it a hunch, an intuition, but Shiro’s learned to trust his innate sense since the Galra abducted him from Kerberos. He re-activates his arm, expecting the trouble before it comes. 

          He doesn’t have to wait long, as an eerie whooshing sound fills the air and three druids materialize around him, clearly expecting the black paladin. Shiro’s dealt with the druids before. He knows how dangerous they can be in close combat and he wants to avoid it at all costs. So his does the first thing any sensible person would do. He punches the druid closest to him in the face and breaks into a run, capitalizing on their moment of confusion. One of the druids fires a bolt of magic at Shiro, causing him to slip, but he stays upright, refusing to lose his momentum. 

_           Not today, _ Shiro thinks as he picks up the pace, his feet thudding against the metal floor of the ship. He has to get back to Lance and Allura.  He knows what he’s capable of, but he also knows what the druids are capable of. There’s no way he can fight all three by himself. So he keeps running down the seemingly endless hallway until he reaches an open doorway, with no sentries in sight. Of course it’s strange, but Shiro isn’t given a moment to think. He hears the chilling warning ‘ding’ of the door about to close and snaps his head back to look at the approaching druids. He makes his choice, flinging himself forwards into a large room with a high, domed ceiling.

          After a once over of the room, Shiro realizes that Haggar’s not there and feels a pinprick of relief unwittingly creep into his mind. This is immediately drowned out by worry, however, as he realizes that Allura and Lance must have taken the route that leads to the maniacal witch, who clearly knew they were coming. 

          Shiro also notices the strange platforms fixed the walls of the room seemingly at random. There are at least ten of them, each a semi-circular shape. The highest one is so close to the ceiling that Shiro has to wonder how one would reach it without a jetpack. But soon he understands how as three druids simply materialize on the platforms nearest to Shiro. 

_           My friends from before, I’m guessing, _ Shiro thinks.  _ This must have been their plan all along.  _ Four more druids materialize, this time on the ground. All of them have their hands out in front of them, ready to strike at Shiro.  _ And they brought friends. Great _ . Shiro wants more than nothing to run towards the door and pound on it until it opens, but he forces himself to not look backwards. He knows he’s trapped. He just has to deal with it. Shiro raises his Altean hand, activating it once more. 

          “You’re not taking me without a fight!” Shiro declares, feeling a little foolish, but also reassured by his own words. 

_           I just hope Lance and Allura are doing okay _ , Shiro thinks as he dives out of the way to avoid the first round of magical blasts from the assembled druids,  _ they’re our only hope. _

…

“You guys doing okay out there?” Lance asks down the comms, wiping sweat from his brow. After going through three waves of heavily armed Galra sentries, both he and Allura are starting to get tired. Lance can’t help thinking ‘ _that’s probably what Haggar wants’_ as he waits for a response.

“We’re alive,” Keith says, “but these stupid ion cannons keep getting better and better.”

“Good news though,” Coran interjects. “The rebel fighters are close! They’ll definitely be here in less than a varga!” 

        Lance has to rack his brain before remembering that varga is the Altean word for hour.

“Thanks, Coran,” Lance says, “Keep us posted.” 

        Lance allows himself to pause to breathe before continuing to walk. Allura, with her seemingly infinite stamina, has kept up a brisk pace the entire time. But even the princess is starting to show signs of fatigue.

“At this rate, we’ll never reach Haggar,” Allura mutters, trying to hide her growing anxiety with bitterness.

“That might not be such a bad thing,” Lance quips. Allura is not amused.

“Why?” Allura asks archly. Lance suddenly feels a new sense of being in danger and not because of the mission they’re on.

“It was joke, your highness,” Lance says, “Besides, I still don’t really know what I’m doing with my powers.” Lance sighs, “I mean, yeah, I know you’ve given me tips and ‘focusing exercises’ and everything, but the fact is, we haven’t had time for actual training. I’ll just be dead weight if we have to face Haggar.”

        “Lance,” Allura stops walking, getting the blue paladin’s full attention, “Yes, you haven’t received proper training, but a large part of magic is based on reaction and instinct as well.” Allura smiles weakly, “I learned that for myself when my powers fully re-awakened after fighting Haggar. Trust yourself, Lance.” 

         The blue paladin nods, taking in her words. 

         Allura smiles again, this time a genuine one, “Besides, you still have your bayard, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Lance replies, unsure where the princess is going with this.

“A well aimed blaster shot can still kill a druid, given the chance,” Allura says sweetly, “Now, shall we get on?” 

        She doesn’t wait for Lance’s response, continuing to walk rapidly. 

_         I am so glad she’s on my team _ , Lance thinks as he starts after the princess,  _ So glad _ .

When they finally reach the end of the corridor, there’s a large metal door with a glowing purple frame and strange symbols etched around the center. 

_         This is definitely it _ , Lance thinks,  _ If there’s anywhere to be doing a freaky evil experiment, it’s behind that door _ . 

        But he gets the feeling there’s something wrong here as well. There are no sentries at the door, and upon closer inspection, Lance realizes the door is already open a crack. Not large enough to easily slip through, but large enough for someone to say, slip their fingers through, and pry the door open.

“Okay. If what happened before was a trap,” Lance says, “this is definitely a trap.”

“You’re right,” Allura affirms, “but we don’t have much choice here, Lance. We have to make sure this experiment fails.” 

         Allura takes a deep breath before closing her eyes. As she grows taller and her skin turns purple, Lance can’t help but stare in awe. Even though he’s seen Allura’s chameleon powers in action more than a few times, they never fail to impress him. As soon as her transformation is complete, Allura gives herself a quickly dusts herself off before putting her hands on the edge of the door. 

        “I thought a little super strength might be helpful,” Allura says as she braces one foot against the floor and the other firmly against the door. With some pushing and grunting, Allura manages to force the door open wide enough to let her and Lance slip inside. 

        “Now,” Allura whispers as soon as they’re on the other side of the door, “Keep your guard up. We don’t know where Haggar is or what she’s got planned for us.”

“It’s so dark in here,” Lance remarks. Beyond the small patch of light coming in from the opening in the door, it’s difficult to make out anything.

“Stay close to me.” Allura holds out the palm of her hand and focuses on summoning the now familiar pink glow of her magic. As she focuses, her Galra transformation melts away to reveal Altean Allura once more, her eyes scrunched tightly shut. Slowly, her palm illuminates, emitting a soft glow. Allura moves her hand around, trying to survey the rest of the room. 

        “It still looks empty,” Allura murmurs, both disappointed and relieved.

“This could be an antechamber, then,” Lance says, “Let’s keep moving. The experiment’s got to be happening somewhere on this ship.” 

         The pair begins cautiously walking forward, Allura holding her hand in front of her like a torch.

“You were right!” the princess exclaims as they reach another metal door at the end of the room, “There is more here!” 

        But as she inspects the door more carefully, she sees that it is well sealed, too tightly closed to try prying it open. 

        “How do we—” Allura stops asking her question as soon as she sees Lance reactivate his bayard.

“Step back,” Lance says. Allura doesn’t need to be told twice. Despite his warning, she still feels her heart leap as Lance aims and fires at a panel beside the door, which causes it to crackle and spark a little before the door springs open.

“What?” That’s the only comprehensible thought Allura can form at that moment.

“No other Galra doors have the control panel exposed like that,” Lance says, “It’s all internal with only a touch screen interface on the surface. The panel basically had a sign on it saying ‘shoot me, Lance, shoot me!’ ’”  

“It’s still a trap,” Allura breathes, unsure whether to feel reassured or terrified that her original suspicion appears to still be true.

“Yep,” Lance replies, “And judging by that weird purple glow coming up ahead, it looks like that trap is about to spring.” 

         Lance points at the floor, and Allura, too, notices the strange shadows that appear in front of them.

        “Let’s go then.” Allura’s heart hammers in her throat as she speaks, but it doesn’t show an inch on her face. Lance gives her a firm nod and raises his bayard, pointing it out at the space in front of them. Likewise, Allura grabs the white and blue cylinder strapped to her belt, re-engaging the war staff that Pidge built. 

        “That’s more like it.” Allura murmurs. She gives the staff a quick twirl before she and Lance start walking.“I just hope we’re not too…” Allura forgets whatever she was going to say, however, as the next room comes into view. Her eye immediately fixes on the prone bodies of Lotor and Zarkon. They both appear to be lying in large glass capsules, connected by lots of various tubes, glowing an eerie color that flickers between pink and purple. Allura would almost think they were both dead, if not for the insane amount of energy coursing between the two. The amount of quintessence being transferred is so great that Allura has to take a physical step back.

        “We’re too late,” Lance whispers.

        “On the contrary,” a cruel voice to his left says, “You’ve arrived just on time.” 

        Lance spins around to see Haggar, her yellow eyes like twin lamps in the dim light of the room. He instinctively raises his bayard, firing off several shots in rapid succession. Haggar curls her lip in disdain and throws up a magical shield, which easily absorbs the blasts. She summons a black tendril that wraps around Lance’s blaster, and uses it launch the blue paladin into a nearby wall. 

        “Lance!” Allura screams.She summons her own magic, hitting Haggar with a concentrated beam of pink light. It doesn’t break Haggar’s shield, but it pushes the druid back a few paces. Haggar snarls. Allura rushes forward, continuing to fire bolts of pink at the druid as she goes. Haggar continues her return volley, but Allura simply ducks and weaves. She has to dive to the ground to avoid a particularly quick blast. Allura tastes blood in her mouth as her head hits the floor. But she jumps up, and brings her warstaff crashing into Haggar’s side. The druid is knocked over for a moment, but quickly recovers with an answer of her own; a shadowy sword, formed of her own magical energy. Steel rings as Allura goes for a vicious uppercut. Haggar frees her weapon, and tries to catch Allura off guard with a low backhand but the princess’ reflexes are even faster. Allura jumps up, Haggar’s swing passing beneath her. When Allura hits the ground again, she barely has time to throw up a magical shield to deflect yet another blast from Haggar.  _ She’s relentless, _ Allura thinks as she parries another stroke, overwhelmed by the druid’s strength. 

         Meanwhile, Lance finally manages to sit up, his arm still throbbing from the impact against the wall. He sees the fight from afar, trying to catalyze his brain back into action. He surveys the experiment again and quickly sees an opportunity in Haggar’s distraction. Lance ponders the flow of energy between Zarkon and Lotor as he stares at the tubes connecting the two capsules. Magic or no magic, he’s still a damn good shot. That’s what he does.  _ If I disrupt those connections with my blaster, that’s gotta do something, right?  _ At this point, Lance just has to trust himself. He grabs his bayard from the floor and moves into a crouching position, lining himself up for the shot. Unfortunately, Haggar’s hawk-like eyes catch the movement, even as she swings at Allura again with her shadow sword. As Lance prepares to pull the trigger, Haggar takes her free hand and summons a bolt of crackling black energy, ready to fire at the blue paladin. 

       “Lance!” Allura yells, seeing what Haggar’s about to do. The druid fires as Lance turns towards the noise. The dark magic rushes towards him and Haggar smiles, as she sees that Lance’s fate is sealed. 

        The last thing she expects him to do is to throw up a twinkling, turquoise magical shield which easily absorbs the blast. 

        Haggar hisses in confusion, and prepares to fire again after locking her blade with Allura’s staff. But Haggar doesn’t even get the opportunity as Lance fires his own bolt of magic at her, hitting the druid squarely in the torso. Before she can recover, Lance quickly turns back and uses his bayard to fires three shots in rapid succession. They all hit their targets, and three of the tubes between the two capsules burst, spraying a golden substance everywhere. Lance recognizes it as raw quintessence, like they had seen in all those jars at the secret Galra processing facility all that time ago. Haggar, truly caught off guard by Lance’s shooting, decides that she’s already spent too much time toying with the two.

        “Enough!” Haggar cries. She raises both of her hands, and they begin to crackle with black lightning. Allura takes a step back and tries to shield herself and Lance tries to ready his blaster again, expecting an explosive attack. But when the druid lashes out, the lightning bolts form thick tendrils, wrapping around both Lance and Allura. Lance tries shooting his way out, and Allura beats at them with her staff but to no avail. Allura, then, tries using her magic, but her pink shield fizzles out before it can properly form, which shocks the princess to her core.

        “Oh yes,” Haggar says happily, “I’ve picked up a few things since our last encounter, princess.”

        “Coran?” Allura says, trying to use the comms link as a last ditch effort, “We need back up! Now!” 

        But Haggar simply laughs.

        “No signal can get in and out of these walls. I made sure of that before you arrived,” Haggar makes a disproving scoff as Lance and Allura exchange horrified looks, “Did you really think I wouldn’t notice your presence as soon as your castle arrived in this system? Maybe that on its own could be forgivable but bringing the boy with you?” Haggar grins with fang-like teeth, “He’s a novice! And you’ve just delivered the last two surviving Altean druids to me. I should thank you.”

        “We are not druids!” Allura spits with all the strength and disgust she can muster in Haggar’s direction.

        “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” Haggar snarls, “Now, my gift for your generosity.” She gestures towards Zarkon and Lotor, “You get to watch the creation of the ultimate Galran emperor, who will finally end Voltron once and for all.”

…

“I can’t do this,” Shiro says, breathing heavily. He’s currently underneath one of the platforms that line the room he’s now termed ‘the hell dome.’ It’s worked as a hiding spot for the past few minutes, but Shiro knows it’s only a matter of time before one of the druids just appears behind him, as they do, and he has to start running all over again. “Coran, where _are_ those reinforcements?” 

         The Altean had announced their supposed arrival a few minutes ago, but here Shiro is, still feeling very much in need of some company. 

“Please just hang on, Shiro,” Coran says, “Their leader himself said he’s making his way towards you through the ventilation shafts. He said he had trouble getting past a laser barrier he encountered.”

        “Well, tell him to hurry up!” Shiro exclaims. 

_          I thought Kit was a girl’s name _ , Shiro thinks as he processes Coran’s pronoun usage. Then, as Pidge mentioned earlier, he feels a strange mental tug at the mention of the name, as if he too has heard it somewhere before. Shiro doesn’t have time to think, however, as he hears a now familiar whooshing sound behind him as a druid appears out of nowhere, using their godforsaken teleportation magic. Shiro dive rolls out of the way of an impending shot. As he runs back to the center of the room, he wonders if he should try using his bayard. He knows he’s running out of strength, and at this point, he should probably just assume help isn’t coming. He reaches down for the bayard but still feels a strange sense of repulsion as his fingers hover over the handle.

_         Forget it _ , Shiro thinks,  _ I have bigger fish to fry _ . 

        He quickly resumes a defensive stance as he realizes what his moments of pondering have cost him. The druids have him completely surrounded, and Shiro can’t help but feel like his luck’s finally run out. 

_         Well, I’m not going down without a fight, _ he decides, in the face of his increasingly slim odds,  _ I just hope all the others make it out okay _ . 

         Shiro exhales, fully ready to accept his fate and the wrath of the druids. But then he hears a rattling noise above him. Shiro looks up and sees a grate in the ceiling slide out of the way before a lone figure emerges. The person leaps confidently from the ventilation shaft, landing firmly in a crouching position beside the black paladin. Their garb is unlike that of any alien Shiro’s seen, and there’s a large blaster strapped to their back that appears to have multiple barrels.

         “You want some help?” The mysterious rescuer is masked; this muffles their voice, but they’re definitely human. 

_          This must be Kit _ , Shiro thinks with relief. He also feels like he’s heard the voice somewhere before but doesn’t take a second to think about as they’re still surrounded by druids.

          “Yeah,” Shiro says gratefully. 

          The person nods, and Shiro gets the strangest feeling that they’re smiling, “Let’s do this.”

          Even with the fighter’s help, the druids are damn near impossible to take down, but Shiro thinks they’re doing fairly well. They adopt the strategy of fighting back to back, making it harder for the druids to use their reappearing/disappearing magic to sneak up on them. They even manage to get a few druids to accidentally take themselves or other comrades out by ricocheting magic beams or engineered mis-firings. But once they’ve gotten down to the last two druids, the fight only becomes more tense. The longest survivors are clearly older and more experienced. Their movements are practiced, more sickeningly fluid. Their magic is stronger. There’s no way they’ll take either of them out by using simple tricks or by accident. They’re too smart for that. There’s also the new disadvantage to their pair strategy. Either one of them moving forward to attack risks exposing their sides to attack by the other druid, no matter how well the other covers them. As the remaining druids circle them, Shiro can’t help but wonder if this is how a prey feel when a lion is closing in. Shiro feels a slight pressure against his back and realizes he’s being nudged by the rebel leader. 

_          A non-verbal warning _ , Shiro wonders,  _ but wha—  _

         Shiro comes to a quick realization as his partner lunges to the side and starts blasting at top speed, hoping to catch a druid off guard. The masked man is not so lucky however, and the druid is simply annoyed, unharmed. Shiro feels a sickening sense of clarity about what’s going to happen next. The irritated druid raises its hand to fire a shot while the other druid does the same. Even if Shiro tries to protect his rescuer, they’ll both be dead in a matter of moments. The black paladin realizes this and knows he has to do something quick before they’re both toast. 

_          It’s now or never _ , Shiro thinks. He reaches down towards his bayard, spinning and lunging at the druid ready to smite Kit as the fighter lays prone on the ground, ready to accept the inevitable. The druid falls as Shiro pierces its cloak with his new weapon, something similar to Altean war staff, save that it’s longer and has a reflective, razor sharp tip at each end. 

_         They’re almost like the wings of the black lion _ , Shiro thinks. Then, remembering the druid behind him, Shiro turns, keeping the staff tips parallel to the druid’s stance. Kit doesn’t understand why at first until the druid fires: its bolt bounces off the staff’s reflective tip, hitting the druid square in the chest. It doesn’t even make a sound as it falls to the floor, the fight finally over. 

_         I did it _ , Shiro marvels, turning the weapon over his hands,  _ I used my bayard _ . Shiro grins,  **_My_ ** _ bayard. _

        “Well, that would have been helpful earlier,” Kit says, both annoyed and impressed by what just happened. Remembering his manners, Shiro disengages his bayard before walking over to the rebel and helping him back up.

        “Can I claim the element of surprise?” Even with Kit’s mask, Shiro can tell he’s receiving a withering look. “You fight really well, by the way,” Shiro continues, trying to change the subject, “You were great with and without the blaster.”

        “Thanks,” Kit says, almost sounding sheepish to Shiro’s untrained ears, “I had to get good at fighting in the gladiator ring.” 

         Kit’s words strike a chord in Shiro’s memory, and the black paladin can’t help the flare of hope that creeps into his chest. 

_          Could it be _ , Shiro wonders,  _ could it really _ ? 

         Kit takes off his mask, shaking out his hair before dropping it to the ground.

         “Hey, Shiro,” says a now familiar face, “It’s so good to see you!”

         “Matt!” Shiro exclaims, rushing to embrace him in a teary hug. He’d long imagined finally finding Matt, but he’d never imagined that day would be today. 

         “You’re here,” Shiro whispers, barely believing the warmth of Matt’s head against his chest, “You’re alive.” 

          Of course, it had been harder on Pidge, but Shiro had missed Matt, too, perhaps more than he should have or had any right to.

         “Yep,” Matt whispers back, “I’m here.”

         “I’m so sorry,” Shiro says, his tears progressing to full on sobs, “When I escaped, I should have saved you.” Shiro chokes on his words, “I should have come back for you and Sam. I should have.” 

          Matt simply makes a “shhhh” sound.

         “It’s okay, Shiro. Please don’t blame yourself.” Matt says.“What I do blame you for is letting my sister become a freakin’ paladin of Voltron!” 

        Shiro instantly breaks the embrace, preparing for the worst of Matt’s wrath.

“In my defense,” Shiro starts, “I was still trapped in space when she infiltrated the garrison and first got involved. That’s not on me.” Shiro throws his hands up, to emphasize his point. 

        Matt is decidedly unimpressed. 

        “Anyway, can we discuss this later?” Shiro asks, going back into full on mission mode, “Lance and Allura need help.”

“Is that Lance McClain from the garrison?” Matt asks, “I remember being his TA. Smart kid.”

“Yes, and he’s in trouble,” Shiro urges. Matt nods, filing his curiosity away.  

“I guess we’re going up,” Matt reaches into one of the pouches on his belt and pulls out a grappling hook. He shoots it at the vent hole in the ceiling where it attaches easily. He gives the line an experimental tug before gesturing for Shiro to climb, “After you.” 

        Shiro begins the journey warily, the thin line making him more than a little uneasy. 

        “You’re safe,” Matt calls, “Don’t worry, Shirogane. I’m saving tearing you a new one for later.” 

        Shiro manages a laugh at that, even as his arms groan with effort.

“I’m glad you’re back, Matt,” Shiro says.

“Me too,” Matt whispers, “Me too.”

…

        “It’s working,” Haggar says in a satisfied voice as the transfer of energy continues. Prince Lotor is already demonstrating a physical change and certainly not for the better. His skin is now dotted with deep depressions, making his body a map of valleys and caverns. The upper half of his body has begun to swell, making his shoulders broader while his waist stays implausibly thin. His eyes have only sunken further and further into his face.

        “If she calls that working, this is bad,” Lance whispers to Allura, “Is there no way to use your magic to break us out?” 

        Lance pulls against Haggar’s black tendrils still holding the two of them captive to emphasize his point.

        “It’s no use, Lance. Every time I’ve tried, nothing happened,” Allura replies, “Besides, we may not need to do anything.” 

        Lance looks at her incredulously, not remotely understanding. 

        “You see what’s happening to Lotor! She must be nearly done draining Zarkon of quintessence if physical effects are already showing on the prince’s body.”

        “Yeah, I still don’t follow,” Lance says, making Allura huff.

        “So, Haggar might end up killing Zarkon in the process,” Allura says, “I can’t see him surviving this.”

        “Then, we still have to deal with Lotor  _ and  _ Haggar,” Lance hisses, “I don’t really think that evens our odds here.”

        “Quiet!” Haggar snaps, hearing their murmuring. Allura glares at the witch spitefully, but Lance just closes his eyes, thinking. 

_         This mission is our best shot _ , Lance reminds himself,  _ We’ve messed up ‘best shots’ before, which is what got us into this mess in the first place _ . 

        Lance takes a deep breath,  _ Well if Allura isn’t going to do anything, I guess I’ll have to try _ . 

        The problem had been that Haggar’s tendrils were somehow stifling their magic, putting a damper on their energy conduction. At least, according to the princess. But Lance forces himself to think  _ I’m not buying it _ , trying to imbue himself with the strength and determination he needs if either of them are to make it out alive. 

_         Patience yields focus _ , Lance reminds himself, breathing in and out.  _ Patience _ .  _ Focus _ . Lance empties his mind, only reaching out for the power, his power, that he knows is buried within him. As he becomes ever more aware of his breathing and pulse, he imagines his heart, and inside it, a glowing, blue core of energy. Using the visualization Allura had taught him, Lance pictures the glow spreading outward, through his veins and lungs until it spreads up and around his whole body. He’s tempted to open his eyes to keep track of his progress but doesn’t stop, continuing to focus on channeling the light outwards, brighter and brighter until it can burn away the darkness of Haggar’s magic.

        “No!” Haggar screams, causing Lance’s eyes to flash open. The room is now bathed in a brilliant turquoise light, his turquoise light, and Haggar is simply staring in disbelief. Lance looks down and realizes that it’s working, the black restraints holding him and Allura nearly burned through. 

        “That’s not possible!” 

         Lance feels the last little bit of Haggar’s magic fade away, dropping him and Allura unceremoniously to the ground, but Lance quickly jumps to his feet. Now that he’s free, he can redirect his focus to a different target.  

         “Well seeing is believing, lady!”  Lance yells before taking his light and using it to fire a concentrated blast at Haggar. The druid throws up a shield at the last minute but is visibly startled, the blast still pushing her back against the far wall of the room.

         “You,” Haggar’s lip curls, discarding her magic shield as soon as Lance’s blasting stops. She briefly considers using illusions to frighten him, as she had done to Shiro, but dismisses the thought quickly.  _ This one is not to be underestimated _ , Haggar thinks. She brings her hands together and begins firing black lightning at Lance, which the boy easily dodges, returning blasts of his own. 

         “Stop playing games, blue paladin.” Haggar says, “You are only delaying your fate.” 

          Lance doesn’t wait for her to finish talking before firing another magical blast at the druid.

         “Whatever you say.” He mutters. 

         “You  _ will _ die!” Haggar shrieks. She whirls around and fires a bolt at Allura, who’s currently moving across the room towards the capsules. Allura leaps forward out of the blast, managing to get even closer to the two prone Galra. Frustrated by the result, Haggar abandons Lance, throwing a magic-dampening tendril at him before resummoning her shadow sword. She needs to slice at Allura before she causes trouble; a blast has too much risk of damaging the experiment.

          But Allura is already between the two capsules, looking carefully at the remaining tubes connecting them, as well as the growing pool of raw quintessence on the floor. Sensing the princess’ plan, Haggar hurls her sword at full strength, aiming for the princess’ neck.

          But a turquoise flash of light flies past Haggar, striking the sword and shattering it into wisps. The druid whips around to see a grinning Lance, his fingers still sparking with energy. 

          “You would have made a good druid.” Haggar quips, re-summoning her sword. “Too bad you only fight for the side of the weak.”

          “Not that weak.” Allura declares. Haggar now sees that the princess has disconnected all the tubes, leaving both of the Galra in the capsules vulnerable. Raw quintessence is now leaking everywhere, making a slight sizzling sound  

_           It’ll melt through the floor eventually _ , Lance realizes. That doesn’t seem to deter Haggar, however as the druid runs through the liquid, ready to stike Allura. Knowing there’s no escaping Haggar’s incoming wrath, Allura makes a quick decision and swings her war staff down hard onto Lotor’s coffin, shattering the glass all over the Galra prince. She swings again, her staff hitting Lotor’s skull with a sickening crunch. Somehow, in spite of everything he’s done, Allura feels bile rise in her throat as she pulls out the staff, now stained with dark blood. 

         “No!” Haggar yells. She immediately begins firing lightning at Allura as fast as possible, not pausing between shots. Her pre-caution with using the sword has gotten her nothing. Now all she wants is to see the princess burn. 

          Lance notices that Haggar hasn’t protected herself with a shield and sees this as his chance to take her out from the side. He raises his hands to fire his own magical energy at her, but Haggar sees the movement out of the corner of her eye and quickly changes her target, hitting Lance square in the chest with a bolt of black lightning. Lance instantly crumples to the ground, drawing an outraged cry from Allura. 

         “Give up yet?” The druid asks coldly, her lips quirking up in a smile.

         “Come and get me!” Allura cries, raising her war staff as a challenge. Haggar raises her hands as well, building up black, magical energy until it’s a large crackling ball. She pushes outward, the lightning leaving her hands to blast the Altean princess into oblivion. 

         But Allura vanishes into thin air before the light even arrives, letting Haggar’s magic hit the growing quintessence lagoon instead. The golden liquid starts to bubble up, beginning to eat through the floor in earnest, but the druid is unbothered. Allura suddenly teleporting is slightly more troubling.  _ And Lotor… _ No longer thinking, Haggar runs over to the wreckage to see Lotor for herself. Beneath the shards of glass and beginning to melt metal, the prince isn’t moving and Haggar can no longer see his chest rising and falling. Haggar howls, shaking with rage. 

         Capitalising on this moment of distraction, Allura reappears on top of Zarkon’s capsule. She’s never tried using teleportation before and wasn’t honestly sure that it would work. She allows herself to breathe a sigh of relief, even as an infuriated Haggar stands up, mere feet away from her.  Allura’s very well aware that Haggar could easily take her out from this distance. That she could die within the next few moments. But that doesn’t bother her because she has one last thing to do first.

         “This is for my father!” Allura declares before raising her warstaff above her head. Haggar already knows what’s going to happen and tries to stop her, raising her hands to generate lightning again, but she feels a fiery bolt hit her in the back, breaking her concentration. 

_          The blue paladin is alive _ , Haggar thinks, whirling around.  _ Not for long. _ But it doesn’t matter as Allura brings her staff down through the glass lid of the capsule, plunging it into Zarkon’s chest. Using the staff as a conductor, Allura channels her magic down into Zarkon’s  body, building up the energy until Zarkon’s body is alight with a pink hue. Allura can’t help the sick sense of satisfaction she feels as her magic makes the emperor’s already broken body begin to burn into nothingness. 

         There’s nothing honorable about killing an already felled enemy. Allura’s father told her  that on many occasions. 

_But that was before our entire civilization_ _was destroyed_ , she thinks darkly. She sees Haggar about to attack her with more black lightning out of the corner of her eye, but she quickly raises her free hand to hastily form a shield, deflecting Haggar’s blast against a wall. Haggar snarls before closing her eyes and disappearing. Allura has an idea of where Haggar’s teleporting to but doesn’t move, continuing to channel her energy into destroying the remains of Zarkon. She hears a ‘whoosh’ behind her as Haggar appears. Allura can just picture the smirk on the druid’s face, convinced that Allura’s finally about to die. Allura hears a faint crackling sound and knows it’s time. 

_         Time to fight _ . Allura whirls around rapidly, pulling her staff out of Zarkon’s chest with a single fluid motion and swinging at Haggar, but Allura’s weapon only hits Haggar’s shield.

        “You’ve fooled me once, princess,” Haggar growls, “Don’t think you’ll get me again.” 

         Allura grunts, pressing harder into Haggar’s shield. 

        “You think I really needed those two?” Haggar asks as she suddenly lets her shield fall, letting Allura crash to the ground. 

        “Not one bit,” Haggar kicks Allura in the solar plexus, making the princess gasp in pain, “Yes, Zarkon’s connection to the black lion was useful. There was a time I even cared for him.” 

         Haggar schools her face into the perfect image of faux nostalgia, “And Lotor was useful for following orders. Occasionally. But make no mistake.” Haggar blasts Allura, making the princess writhe in agony, “I’m in charge. I built this empire from the ground up. And now?” She gestures to Zarkon’s body, still alight with Allura’s pink magic, “You’ve taken out the middle-man for me. Thank you.” 

         Allura shakes her head, unable to believe what she’s hearing.

        “But the experiment,” Allura murmurs, “You worked so hard to keep it a secret.” 

         Haggar scoffs.

        “I knew it was only a matter of time before Lotor failed me,” Haggar replies, “I suspected you would come, as you’ve probably guessed.” Haggar fires two more lightning blasts at Allura, making the princess scream with the pain, “You’re so predictable, Allura. You were a child ten thousand years ago, and you’re still a child now.” Haggar clucks her tongue, “I guess Alfor’s tactics haven’t changed.” 

        At the mention of her father’s name, Allura bristles with anger, a fire sparking in her eyes.

        “Don’t you dare speak of my father!” Allura exclaims, “Not after all that you’ve done.” 

        She flops her head onto the ground after she finishes speaking, exhausted by the exertion. Haggar kneels down so that she’s on the princess level.

        “Do you even know what happened to them,  _ princess _ ?” Haggar hisses.

        “I don’t know who you’re talking about,” Allura breathes. Haggar simply laughs.

        “Really? Your father’s b-team?” Haggar grabs Allura’s chin and leans in closer, “You know, the children he sent to war, claiming they were the new paladins.” 

         Allura squeezes her eyes shut, not wanting to look Haggar directly in the eye.

        “They didn’t even have lions,” Haggar says, “There’s no way Alfor would have expected them to survive.” 

         The druid shakes her head, “And now, here you are, about to die a horrible, painful death. Just like they did.” 

         Haggar smiles wickedly, “Don’t worry princess. Your death will be longer and more excruciating. Only the  _ best _ for the heir to the throne.”

         “Why would you do this?” Allura asks, “Have you no respect for Altea? For your own people?” 

         Haggar scoffs.

         “‘My people,’ as you say, left me for dead by the order of the king. With the advisement of his precious princess, so I heard.” Haggar says softly, “Something about my magic being a ‘consort of evil’ and how I must have been responsible for the disappearance of the queen. I would have died if Zarkon hadn’t saved me.”

        “My mother?” Allura asks hesitantly, having difficulty processing Haggar’s words.

        “Of course,” Haggar says sweetly, “Who do you think Zarkon’s first prisoner of war was?” 

        Haggar idly strokes Allura’s face with a long, yellowed fingernail. 

         “I truly don’t know what happened to her in the end,” Haggar admits, “Perhaps the dust of her bones is now the sand of the gladiator ring.” 

         Allura shudders and violently tries to pull away from Haggar’s grip, but the druid simply squeezes Allura’s chin tighter. 

         “Don’t move, princess,” Haggar smiles, “I want my face to be the last thing you see before you die.”

         “Funny,” Allura says, her voice clearly strained, “I was just thinking the same thing.” 

          Then, using all of the dregs of her magic, Allura brings her left hand up to Haggar’s chest and blasts with every last bit of strength she can muster. Haggar begins to scream, but Allura pushes harder, drowning out the witch’s cries with even more magic. Eventually, the witch stops moving, and Allura cuts her power off, thinking it’s over. But Lance, still lying on the floor, sees the witch’s chest still barely rising and falling.

          “Allura!” Lance cries as he sees Haggar’s hands beginning to glow again, albeit far more faintly. Energized into action, Lance jumps up activating his bayard as he does so. And before Allura can say anything, he fires his blaster at Haggar’s heart, finally killing the druid once and for all.

          “Huh,” Lance says, surprised that it actually worked. “I guess a blaster is just as effective.” 

           Allura nods before her eyes roll back into her head, passing out. She’d used up practically all of her energy in the fight and was completely and utterly exhausted. 

          “Great,” Lance mutters, “She’s so buff. How am I gonna carry her?” 

           He sighs, deactivating his bayard. 

_             I gotta at least drag her back to the corridor _ , Lance thinks,  _ Then I can at least use the comms to ask for help _ . 

            He makes his way over to Allura and hooks an arm under each of her armpits. With some effort he hoists her up, just managing to get Allura’s torso airborne. 

            “Crap!” Lance exclaims, gently easing the princess back to the floor, “I need a new strategy.” 

            Lance never has the chance to think of a new plan, however, as he hears a strange rattling noise. Lance looks up and realizes it’s coming from a grate in the ceiling. 

            “Amazing,” Lance mutters, “Of course, Haggar had back up.” 

            He raises his bayard again, ready to fight.

            “They won’t have a chance,” Lance whispers himself as the grate pops out, falling to the floor, “They’re not getting Allura. Not on my watch.” 

            He gets ready to fire as two figures come tumbling out of the ventilation shaft, but one of them hastily throws up their hands.

            “Don’t shoot, Lance! It’s me!” Shiro yells, taking in Lance’s defensive stance, “Lower your blaster!”

            “Shiro,” Lance breathes a sigh of relief, putting away his bayard, “Boy, am I glad to see you! Allura passed out after we killed Haggar, and I need help getting her out of here.” 

            Shiro nods, quickly making his way over to Lance.

            “Seems like we missed a lot,” the second figure says, “Sorry, we couldn’t be of more help.” 

            Lance squints.

            “Thanks...Pidge.” Lance says. “Since when did you get taller? And change outfits?”

            Matt stifles a laugh.

            “Pidge, huh?” Matt says. “Is that what Katie’s calling herself now, Shiro?”

            “Yeah,” Shiro says, easily picking Allura up in a fireman’s lift, “but what I still can’t figure out is how you found out she was a paladin.”

            “When I got in contact with Coran, he added me to the communications network,” Matt answers, “I knew Katie’s voice as soon as I heard it.”

            “Oh, so you’re the older brother!” Lance exclaims in realization, “We all used to think Pidge was you and that she had a girlfriend.”

            “What?” Matt stares at Lance, dumbfounded.

            “We’ll explain later,” Shiro says, “We have to get out of here.” They all freeze as they hear a rustling coming from the wreckage, followed by a loud thud. Lance puts a finger to his lips as he creeps closer trying to determine the source of the noise. He keeps his hand wrapped around his blaster, expecting trouble. But as he reaches Lotor’s capsule, he realizes that trouble has already passed. 

            “He’s escaped,” Lance murmurs. “Lotor’s gone. I thought he was dead.”

            “What?” Matt’s voice is incredulous. “How?” He and Shiro rush over, not knowing what to expect. 

            “Maybe the quintessence puddle shaped hole in the floor has something to do with it?” Shiro points at the smoking crater beneath the remains of Lotor’s capsule. “He’ll be in the lower levels by now.”

            “Then what are we waiting for?” Matt asks. “Let’s go after him.” Lance and Shiro immediately shake their heads. 

            “We have to get Allura back to the castle.” Lance says. “As soon as we’re clear, we get the others to fire with everything they’ve got at the ship. That’ll stop Lotor.” 

            “Okay.” Matt nods and they all file out, Shiro moving the fastest despite the added weight of Allura. As soon as they get back into the main hallway, Lance retests his comms link, and is pleased to find that it works again. 

            “Hey guys,” he says. “It’s Lance. We’re gonna need you to blow up this ship in a few minutes.” 

…

“I’m really fine, Coran,” Allura says, “We need to wormhole away! Just let me take care of that.” 

         After making sure everyone was back to the castle safely, Coran had taken Allura from Shiro, insisting that the princess enter one of the healing pods as soon as possible.  

“Nonsense,” Coran replies, “I’ve taught Hunk how to manually fire up the castle’s turbo blasters.  He’ll get things sorted.” Coran shakes his head, “At the very least, you need to lie down, princess. From what young Lance told me, you’ve nearly depleted your powers.”

“I had to,” Allura says softly, “I did it Coran. I killed them. Zarkon _and_ Lotor.”

“So you did, princess,” Coran says, “You single handedly saved the universe.”

“I couldn’t have done it without Lance,” Allura admits, “I think that boy might even become more powerful than me one day.” Allura frowns, “Revenge didn’t feel as good as I thought it would.”

“Take some advice from an old codger, Allura. It never does,” Coran says, “but you were just doing what you had to do. You and Lance would have died. Who knows how many other people would have died?”

“I just can’t help but think…” Allura’s voice trails off, “that I just turned into another one of my father’s soldiers, and that’s what I’ll always be, no matter how much he was trying to protect me.” Allura’s eyes mist over. “Coran, do you remember Tyla?” 

       Coran’s face droops sadly.

“And Normax and Meridia and Plormane?” Coran nods, “Of course, I do. I’ve never forgotten Alfor’s ‘auxiliary paladins.’ I hated the idea as soon as your father first mentioned it.” Coran blinks away painful memories, “Why do you ask?”

“Something that Haggar said,” Allura murmurs, “about children fighting all of Altea’s wars. I just can’t help but think she was right.” Allura sighs, “I should have died with them.”

“But you didn’t,” Coran says firmly, “and that’s a good thing.” 

        Allura barks out a hollow laugh.

“I miss them sometimes,” The princess admits, “Sometimes, I miss what my destiny used to be, but can you even imagine it now, Coran? Me as the blue paladin, even temporarily?”

“Not at all,” Coran replies, “The blue lion chose well when it picked Lance.”

“It did indeed,” The princess says softly, beginning to doze off. “It did indeed.”

…

“Okay, this place is seriously cool,” Matt whistles as Shiro leads him towards the control room, “and that guy who just grabbed Allura, was that Coran?”

“Yes, Matt,” Shiro smiles at Matt’s childlike excitement. He also feels a bubble of warmth in his chest, which he quickly forces down, “Come on. I’m sure Pidge is dying to see you.”

“It’s weird that everyone calls her Pidge now,” Matt says, “That used to just be my nickname for her.” Matt laughs. “Our parents used to call her Kit, but she hated that nickname. ‘Pidge’ was something special. Just between us.”

“That’s probably why she chose it as her alias when she infiltrated the garrison.” Shiro laughs. “I still can’t believe she did that.”

“Katie always had guts,” Matt concedes,“That’s for sure.” 

        They walk in silence for a moment. 

        “Shiro?”

“Yes, _Matthew_?” Shiro grins as Matt fake retches at the use of his full name.

“Has Katie changed a lot?” Matt asks softly, “I mean the last time I saw her, she was a annoying little kid that was gonna miss me on Kerberos.” Matt involuntarily shudders at the name of the ill-fated expedition. “But now, she’s a paladin of Voltron! She’s a warrior. She saves lives!” Matt exhales. “It’s a lot to process.”

“Well, look at you,” Shiro counters. “You went from geeking out over ice samples to leading an intergalactic rebel group!” 

        “For the record, I still think ice samples are super cool.” Matt crosses his arms. “But I see your point.”

“The main thing you should know about your sister is that you and Sam disappearing hit her hard,” Shiro says, his face now serious, “I don’t think there’s been a single day she hasn’t thought about you since the garrison announced we were dead.”

“I never wanted her to go through that,” Matt whispers, “I can only imagine what Mom is thinking on Earth if we’re all up in space.” 

         Shiro puts a comforting hand on Matt’s shoulder.

“Dismantling the Galra empire is keeping your mom safe,” Shiro says, “She may not know now, but she’ll understand when we return to Earth.”

“I suppose,” Matt says solemnly. Shiro gives Matt’s shoulder a quick squeeze before dropping his hand.  

“But don’t worry about Katie changing a lot,” Shiro assures him, steering away from the tension in the conversation, “She’s still the head strong, rambling wiz kid that you remember. You two will be annoying each other again in no time. ”

“Does she still color code stuff?” Matt asks, his lips quirking up.

“Don’t even get me started,” Shiro says, “One time we were preparing for this mission and—”

“Matt!” Pidge’s scream is so loud Shiro immediately has to cover his ears. Pidge breaks into a run towards her brother, barely giving Matt time to react before she’s leaping into his arms, nearly sending them both crashing to the floor. 

        “You’re here! You’re really here!” Pidge reaches out with a tentative hand to touch Matt’s face, to confirm he’s not just a larger than life mirage.

“I’m here,” Matt reaffirms, “It’s okay, Katie. I’m safe.” 

        He hugs his sister tightly to his chest, tears running freely down his face.

“I never stopped looking for you,” Pidge says, also crying, “I kept that photo of us, from the day you left for the garrison. I looked at it every night.” 

        Pidge sniffles as Matt strokes her hair.

“I missed you so much,” Matt breathes, “Dad misses you too.”

“Dad?” Pidge asks, quickly breaking out of their embrace, “Is he here? Where is he? Can I see him?”

“Slow down,” Matt says placatingly, “He’s hundreds of galaxies away, leading another group of resistance fighters.”

“Dad’s a fighter?” Pidge asks, her brow crinkling.

“No no no,” Matt replies, barely containing his laughter. “But he has become quite the tactician. He’s coordinating the liberation of a cluster of enslaved Balmeras in the Kalexian system.”

“That makes more sense,” Pidge admits. She, then, notices a gleam in her brother’s eyes, a decidedly mischievous one that she doesn’t much like, “What?”

“Since when have you become my mini me?” Matt asks, gesturing at Pidge’s hair, “And Shiro mentioned something about you _infiltrating the Garrison_?” 

         Pidge is suddenly very interested in looking at the floor. 

        “Katie why would you do that?”

“I got caught breaking into Iverson’s office one too many times,” Pidge says, shrugging, “I decided I needed a different approach.” 

        Matt pinches the bridge of his nose, exhaling hard.

“Siblings, huh?” Shiro says, “I think I know the feeling.”

“Normally, I’d be mad at you,” Keith says as he comes out into the hallway, “but right now, we have a bigger problem.”

“What?” Shiro asks.

“Lotor’s still alive,” Keith waves a hand, gesturing for them to get in the control room. Shiro and Pidge quickly make their way to the doorway, with Matt on their heels. Shiro quickly spots Lance standing at one of the main computers, looking at what appears to be some kind of schematic. 

        “Lance,” Keith calls, walking over to his boyfriend, “Tell them what you told me and Hunk.”

“It was after we blew up Haggar’s ship,” Lance says, turning around, “Some moving object was picked up on the blue lion’s scanner. There was a ton of debris moving around though, so I didn’t think anything of it at first.” 

         Lance sighs, “But it kept bothering me, so when we got back to the castle, I used its scanners cause I knew they could see farther.”He  shakes his head, “An escape pod jettisoned from that ship with a Galra life form inside. It has to be Lotor.” 

“This is bad,” Pidge groans, “Imagine how Allura’s gonna feel when she finds out!”

“I sent Hunk to go tell her and Coran,” Keith says, “I figured that news would be even worse coming from me.” 

        Lance hears the melancholy note in Keith’s voice and comes up behind Keith, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy. Keith leans gratefully into the touch.

“I think we’re gonna go and get some air,” Lance announces to the group, “The pod is long gone, but I did pull up schematics of it and where Lotor might be going based on how far that thing can travel.” 

        Without waiting for anyone to respond, Lance moves a hand to the small of Keith’s back, gently guiding the red paladin back out into the corridor.

“Thanks,” Keith says, once they’re far enough out of earshot.

“You’re welcome,” Lance says, shifting his arm so it’s draped around Keith’s waist.

“Lance?” Keith’s voice is small, causing the blue paladin to stop in his tracks. He turns slightly so that he’s looking at Keith directly.

“Yes, Keith?” Lance waggles his eyebrows, hoping to get a laugh out of his boyfriend, but Keith’s face remains serious.  

“Look, I know it wasn’t your fault but…” Keith’s voice trails off. “When the comms went down, I was so scared, Lance. I knew you could be facing off with Haggar, and suddenly, you couldn’t call for back-up. I mean, what if something had gone wrong?” Keith sighs. “I guess I’m still not used to being your battle partner _and_ your boyfriend.”

“Hey,” Lance says, bringing his free hand to Keith’s cheek, “I know how you feel, and to be honest, I’m not sure if I’ll ever get used to having to put you in danger all the time either.” 

        Lance gently strokes Keith’s cheek with his thumb, “But what’s important is we talk about it, okay? We’ve already spent enough time not communicating with each other.” 

        Keith nods.

“Agreed.” He closes his eyes for a moment, taking in the warmth of Lance’s hand. “Even so,” Keith says, “It’s gonna be rough since Lotor’s still alive. We don’t know where he’s going or what he’s planning, and we’ll have to fight him again.”

        “But as long as we’re together,” Lance says, “I can do anything.” 

        “Lance, that was the cheesiest pickup line I’ve ever heard.” Keith replies, shaking his head. Lance gives Keith a look.  

        “I was talking about the team, Keith,” Lance says drily. Keith reddens at his mistake before he sees the corners of Lance’s mouth turn up. “But I was also talking about us too.” He finishes, pecking Keith on the cheek. Deciding that’s not enough, Lance goes back to give Keith a proper kiss. Keith leans into the touch, humming contentedly. 

_         Lance is right _ , Keith thinks,  _ we’ll be alright _ . 

        So, Keith allows himself to get lost in Lance for a moment. To forget about the mission, the fight. To forget about whatever exists outside the walls of the castle. To forget about being paladins. And, Keith feels the weight of the universe lift from his shoulders just a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all liked it!! Guys there's just one more chapter and then the epilogue I can't beliebe it. 
> 
> Up Next: Shenanigans, the battle we've all been waiting for, and the power of friendship™
> 
> P.S. If there are any things I missed in my warnings in the opening note please comment them and lmk and I'll add them!


	10. Seven Minutes to Midnight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the final battle looms, the paladins try to maintain a sense of normalcy. Keith and Lance talk about Earth, Allura and Coran must finally deal with their grief, and Pidge has to deal with being separated from her brother. Again. As the fighting begins, Lotor starts gaining the upper hand, and no one is ready to say goodbye. Not after all they’ve accomplished. 
> 
> But will the black paladin fail them in the end, or save them all?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> get ready to be Babashook

“Lance, stop cheating!” Pidge yells, smashing the buttons on her controller. “You can’t—”

“Can’t what?” Lance asks, not taking his eyes off of the screen for a moment. “Can’t believe that I’m beating you?” Lance grins at Pidge’s frustrated huff.

“Watch out.” Hunk cautions. “She’s totally gonna send a blue turtle your way.” He sticks his tongue out in concentration as Lance laughs.

“She can try.”

Lance can almost imagine they’re back on earth as they continue to play, the rounds progressively getting more and more competitive. Working together, Matt and Pidge had finally managed to adapt one of the castle screens in the common room so that they could all actually play the game Lance and Pidge worked so hard to buy at the space mall. They’d discovered a whole treasure trove of vintage earth video games on the disk they’d bought, including a bunch of Nintendo classics.

And Mario Kart.  

“What!” Pidge shouts indignantly. “I _clearly_ sent you a blue shell! How the _fuck_ did you do a backflip _over_ the finish line?”

         Hunk simply drops his controller in defeat.

“I can’t teach greatness, Pidge.” Lance says. He considers reaching over to ruffle Pidge’s hair, but decides that he’d rather not lose a limb today.

“I’m going to beat you!” Pidge declares firmly. “Come on! Next round is double or nothing.” Pidge’s eyes bore holes into Lance and Hunk’s faces. “Winner takes all.”

“All of what?” Hunk asks.

“The glory.” Pidge says. “What else?”

“I see you kids are having fun,” Shiro says as he enters the common room with Matt and Keith. Lance smiles brightly as Pidge rolls her eyes.

“Don’t worry, Lance,” Matt says. “Katie was always a sore loser on Earth.” Pidge mutters something in response that sounds like ‘shut your quiznak.’ Matt doesn’t even want to ask what that means.

“Okay Lance, start the next round,” Hunk says, “before Pidge blows a gasket.”

“If you pick rainbow road I’m stealing the blue lion,” Pidge says, without missing a beat.

“Can I play?” Keith asks. He sits down beside Lance, who gives him a quick kiss on the cheek as a greeting. “I haven’t played Mario Kart since I was like, five.”

“Next round, babe,” Lance says. “Pidge is calling for a sudden death round.” Lance smiles. “Feel free to cheer me on, though.” He winks, but Keith just laughs. 

“Go Hunk! Go Pidge!” Keith says loudly. “You guys can do it!” Lance gives his boyfriend a withering look.

“You see what I have to live with, Matt?” Lance asks, shaking his head. “I can’t trust anyone on this team. Not even my own boyfriend!” 

“Doesn’t seem so bad,” Matt replies as Keith puts his arms around Lance from the back, hooking his chin over Lance’s shoulder. Matt’s eyes involuntarily flick to Shiro, but Lance doesn’t notice.

“Well if you guys are done _chatting_ ,” Pidge says, “I have a Mario Kart game to win.”

“If you say so.” Lance smirks. He’s lucky Pidge doesn’t throw the controller at him right then and there.

…

“Okay tell me the truth,” Keith says as he walks back to his room with Lance. “Did you let Pidge win?” Lance makes a vague wiggling gesture with his hand.

“Sort of?”

“Sort of?” Keith echoes back. “What kind of an answer is that?”

“I mean I did hit a few banana peels accidentally on purpose,” Lance admits. “To make the game interesting of course.” Keith rolls his eyes. “But I wasn’t expecting Hunk to _backstab me_ with a blue shell at the last second. I’m still in shock.”

“I guess you’ll show me your Mario Kart skills some other time?” Keith teases.

“Of course,” Lance breathes. He reaches for Keith’s hand and their fingers slot together instantly, like they were made to fit together. Lance doesn’t think he’ll ever get tired of holding Keith’s hand.

        “Hey.” Keith starts tracing circles onto Lance’s hand with his thumb. “Whatcha thinking about?”

        “Who says I’m thinking?” Lance asks. Keith gives him a look.

        “You’re making your thinking face,” Keith counters. “Scratch that. You’re making your  _ sappy _ thinking face.” He smiles. “It’s cute, though.”

        “Aren’t you a charmer,” Lance remarks. But all this stuff about hand holding has got him thinking. “We’ve never gone a real date,” he finally says.

        “What?” Keith blinks.

        “Like I know we hang out all the time,” Lance says. “And I love cuddling you and holding your hand, but…” Lance sighs. “It’s stupid.” Keith raises an eyebrow.

        “No it’s not.” Keith squeezes Lance’s hand, drawing a smile from the blue paladin.

        “Like we’ve never gone to see a crappy horror movie where Shiro has to drive us and give me an uncomfortable talk,” Lance says. “And then at the movie I do ‘the move’ and yawn so I can put my arm around your shoulders. And then have a greasy burger afterwards and purposefully order one milkshake so we can do the cheesy straw sharing thing.”

        “I  _ knew  _ it was your sappy thinking face.” Keith laughs as Lance ducks his head. “I’d like that, though,” Keith says. “When we return to earth.”

“Really?” Lance asks, his voice small.

“Really,” Keith assures him. He makes Lance stop walking so he can properly lean over and kiss his boyfriend. He can’t help it when he smiles against Lance’s lips.

“I have so many places I wanna take you then,” Lance says when they finally break apart. “There’s this ice cream place downtown with all of the coolest flavors, like corn and honey and shit like that. Oooh and we have to go to the beach!”

“The beach.” Keith tilts his head to one side, as if weighing a serious decision. “Well that’s gonna depend.” Lance’s brow furrows.

“On what?” Lance doesn’t know if he should worry about the scheming smile that creeps up Keith’s face.

“On whether or not the beach is shirt optional.” Keith grins as a dopey look spreads across Lance’s face.

“And I thought I was the smooth one in this relationship.” Lance says with a fake sigh.

“Come on,” Keith says, tugging at Lance’s hand. “I’m tired. It’s time for a nap-date.”

“It’s like you read my mind,” Lance says, allowing himself to be led down the hall. “You’re too good for me.”

Keith smiles, “I know.”

“Hey!”

…

        “Can we go again?” Shiro asks, sweat dripping from his brow. After watching Pidge nearly kill Lance over virtual cars, the black paladin had gravitated towards the training deck. He’s still not at all accustomed to fighting with his bayard; the weight and balance are unfamiliar, and his accuracy with the weapon definitely needs work. He got lucky with the druids, but if they’re going to face Lotor again, he needs to get better.

         “Let’s take a short break,” Allura says, panting. “It’s not like the Galra fleet is on our doorstep.” The truth is she’s tired too, but won’t admit it. She also doesn’t actually know when the upcoming battle will happen. Blade of Marmora scouts haven’t reported any activity and Lotor appears to have faded into the night, but this has only increased her urgent need to improve and face the Galran prince. She still remembers what she whispered to Lotor’s prone form after their last fight: “This isn’t over.” The only way Allura intends for it to end is by kicking Lotor’s ass the next time she sees him.

         But kicking Lotor’s ass means going back to training for the both of them.

         “I forgot how hard this was,” Shiro admits, flopping to the ground, “actually working out.”

         “Just part of being a paladin,” Allura says, also sitting down.

         “Yeah, well I haven’t been a paladin of Voltron for a while.” Shiro runs a hand through his hair. “Still not quite used to it again.” Shiro shakes his head. “Can you believe I saw Hunk, Pidge, and Keith training in here when I was barely awake? And Lance was helping Coran with cleaning.  _ Voluntarily. _ ”

         “They’ve learned to take care of themselves.” Allura shrugs. “They’ve had to grow up a lot since you…” Her voice trails off.

         “Since I disappeared into a strange death void,” Shiro finishes. “I know it’s just… It’s just weird to see.” He lets out a short laugh. “You know when this whole Voltron thing first started, I felt like I was the one holding everything together. They used to all ask me what do before we decided on anything. Anything! I had to keep Hunk from panicking, Pidge focused, and Lance and Keith from tearing at each other’s throats. Not anymore, I guess.”

“Do you wish it was still like that?” Allura asks. “The way that it was?” She brushes a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ll confess that I don’t.”

          Shiro looks at the princess in surprise.

          “I agree,” she admits, “you were what was holding Voltron together. I never thought about it before, but you all never asked for this. You weren’t born thinking that Voltron was your destiny. I was.” She sighs. “I just couldn’t understand it when they didn’t all enthusiastically give up everything for Voltron in the beginning. But you did. You kept us on course.” She looks down. “I had no idea how to keep the team moving when you disappeared. I’m supposed to be a leader! A ruler! But I was so used to relying on you, I didn’t even know how to handle four paladins at first.”

          “But it looks like they can handle themselves now,” Shiro says. “They almost don’t need me anymore.” It’s half a joke, half not, but either way Allura isn’t having it.

           “Of course they still need you, Shiro,” Allura says firmly. “Yes, maybe they don’t rely on you for everything anymore, but that just means you’re all so much stronger.” She fixes Shiro firmly with her gaze.  

           Eventually, Shiro nods. “They’re a better team.”

           “Indeed,” Allura affirms. “I’m also so impressed at how well Pidge’s brother has integrated himself.” She allows herself a small smile. “You two seem rather close.”

           “We’ve been friends for a long time.” Shiro says calmly, never mind that his heart rate has picked up just a little bit.

           “Just friends?” Allura asks, examining her fingernails. She pretends to not hear Shiro choke on his own spit.

           “Are we good to spar again?” The black paladin asks hastily.

           “Absolutely,” shes says. She could totally continue to torture Shiro, but they do still have a war to win. She springs to her feet. “Now let’s see if you can do that back hand strike again, or if that was just a fluke earlier.” Shiro jumps up, hearing the challenge in her voice.

           “Let’s go,” he says, activating his bayard. 

…

           “Okay that’s awesome,” Matt says as Pidge explains how she reverse-engineered her lion’s cloaking mechanism from the invisible maze on the training deck. He shakes his head. “I can’t believe my sister is cooler than me now.” He’s still amazed by how much Katie has grown. Of course it’s natural, given the circumstances, but Matt still can’t help but be in awe. She’s changed so much, but at the same time, she’s still so Katie. Enthusiastic, wild, Katie. Just more so. Like Katie with her brightness turned up.

           “If you think that’s cool, wait till I show you the fuel booster that I added to all the castle pods.” Pidge frowns. “It did almost kill Keith and Allura once, _ but  _ it saved Hunk and Coran one time, so it cancels out.”

Matt shakes his head. “You are unbelievable. I feel bad for the poor sucker who was your engineering instructor at the garrison.”

          “I dialed it down a little when I was there, actually,” Pidge confesses. “I didn’t really wanna draw more attention to myself than necessary.” She smiles. “I _did_ leave Iverson one or two nasty viruses the last time I went snooping in his computer.” She thinks for a moment. “And we did blow up a lot of garrison trucks when we escaped with Shiro. Technically Keith rigged the explosions, but I like to say it was a team effort.”

           “You’re unbelievable,” Matt says, shaking his head. What used to just be Katie’s wild shenanigans have turned into Katie’s wild and dangerous shenanigans, and Matt still can’t quite wrap his head around that. But Katie feels the same way about Matt leading a group of intergalactic rebels. She’s told him as much and Matt can’t blame her. And truth be told, Matt can’t always believe some of the things he does either.  _ I guess it’s all just part of war _ , Matt muses. But he can’t help but think that this new role, this new life suits Katie even better than her old one did. And that’s another thing he’s just going to have to get used to.

           “Pidge!” Coran’s voice breaks Matt out of his thoughts.

           “What is it, Coran?” She asks as the Altean enters the green lion bay, with rumpled  hair and slightly singed clothes.

           “If you’ve got a minute.” Coran coughs. “I could use a hand rebooting the castle’s main turbine. I think it got damaged in one of our recent skirmishes and it  _ might _ be what’s causing our issues with the particle barrier.”

           “So you think if we fix it, our only defense will stop failing every five minutes when we’re in battle?” Pidge asks. “I’m in. I just wanna finish showing Matt something.”

           “Very good,” Coran says. “Feel free to come as well, Matt.”

           “Sure,” Matt says. But Coran is already out the door, bustling off to some other errand, no doubt.

           “He does that,” Pidge says. “He has so much energy for someone who’s like a billion years old.” Matt nods, but he’s already stopped dwelling on Coran’s speedy exit. He’s wrestling with a thought again, a debate he’s been having ever since he reunited with his sister.  

           “Hey,” Matt says. “Can I ask you something?”

           “Sure,” Pidge says. “What’s up?”

           “I uh.” Matt hesitates. “Should I call you Katie or Pidge? Pidge used to be our thing. But now everyone calls you Pidge!” Matt throws up his hands. “So I figured I’d just call you Katie but it seems weird to call you Katie now. Does that make sense?”

           “Yeah,” Pidge says. “I get it. I mean the whole reason I chose Pidge as my name at the garrison is ‘cause of you. It was like my secret ‘fuck you’ to Iverson.” 

           They both laugh at that. 

           “I am still Katie,” Pidge continues. “I’m still a Holt and I’m still your little sister and I still wish we could just sit around the dinner table with mom and dad and joke about peas again.” Pidge smiles sadly as she thinks of a simpler time. “But I’m more Pidge now. Pidge is the green paladin of Voltron and the master coder and designer. Pidge is what my friends call me.” Pidge shrugs. “I can’t really explain, but I feel like I’m more myself now, as Pidge than I ever was before. Does that make sense?”

           Matt nods.  _ Katie with the brightness turned up _ .

           “So it doesn’t really matter,” Pidge concludes. “And Pidge is still  _ totally  _ our thing. The same way I call you  _ Matthew _ to annoy you.”

           “Shiro does that too,” Matt points out.

           “I started the trend,” Pidge declares. She pauses for a moment. “It probably doesn’t bother you when Shiro does it, though,” she says sweetly. She’s not even really implying anything; it’s just too easy to push Matt’s buttons.

           “What’s that supposed to mean?” Matt asks sharply. He’d made some truly embarrassing confessions to his sister before he left for Kerberos. Apparently, she hasn’t forgotten what he said about his friend and co-pilot.

           “Nothing.” To the untrained eye, Pidge’s smile is lovely and innocent. But Matt’s known her all her life. She’s not fooling him.

           “Shiro said you’d be annoying me again in no time,” Matt mutters.  But he can’t help the smile that creeps his face as he thinks of the black paladin.

…

Breakfast is rarely peaceful in the Castle of Lions, even on the best days. The number of arguments had gone down after Lance and Keith had begun to work through their differences, but there always seems to be something to do, some news to discuss that makes devouring Hunk’s cooking a little less enjoyable than it should be. And today is no exception.

“Guys!” Lance exclaims. “The Blade of Marmora is contacting us!” Shiro makes an involuntary start and Allura and Coran jump up immediately.

“Is Lotor on the move?” Allura asks.

“Looks like it,” Lance nods. “Keith and Matt are already talking to Kolivan, and I sent Pidge to get Hunk.”

“If Kolivan himself is talking to us, he must have some information,” Coran remarks. “The leader of the Blade of Marmora is reclusive at best.”

“Let’s get a move on, then!” Allura exclaims, making her way out the door with Coran in tow. Shiro sighs as he gets up to follow Lance. That’s one thing he hasn’t missed about being a paladin: being on call 24/7. _You never know how much you like breakfast till it’s taken away from you_ , Shiro thinks, _but I better go help Keith_. He forces himself to pick up this pace, jogging to catch up to the others.

When Shiro gets there, however, he realizes that Keith doesn’t need him at all.

“Kolivan, what do you think Lotor is planning on doing once he reassembles his fleet?” Keith asks. The galra on the fuzzy video transmission shakes his head.

“Besides revenge on Voltron, his specific aims are unclear,” Kolivan says. “But he’ll have trouble reassembling his army. It looks like Haggar was really in charge all along, controlling Zarkon and later Lotor. Thace suspected it for a long time, but it’s become obvious after her death.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Keith’s voice is questioning but firm. “If that were true why wouldn’t Haggar kill them herself earlier? She has enough magical power in her own right. Why would she need a puppet?” Kolivan can’t help but smile at Keith’s words. It’s hard to reconcile the scared boy with a strange knife he once knew with the strong red paladin before him.

“After your attack on Haggar’s ship, I asked Princess Allura and the blue paladin to describe the druid’s experiment. So we could understand her true motives.” Kolivan says. “If Zarkon was that close to death, there is only one purpose his quintessence could possible serve to prince Lotor.”

“Zarkon’s connection to the black lion,” Lance says. “He’s used it to splinter Voltron before.” The paladins collectively shudder at the memory.

“Since Lotor’s still alive, he’s absorbed at least some of this power,” Kolivan states. “The safety of Voltron is my top priority, blue paladin, but I believe the time is right to attack the Galran fleet.”

“Even with reinforcements from the Blade and the other rebel groups, we still don’t have the numbers for a full scale assault on Lotor’s fleet. And we can’t just infiltrate his central command like we did last time.” Keith shakes his head. “It’d be a suicide mission, even with Voltron.”

“I’m with Keith,” Lance says. His voice is distant, however. There’s something bothering him, something Kolivan said about the experiment. Lance can’t quite put his finger on it.

“Lotor has no central command at the moment.” Kolivan says. “ We have the numbers and the intel to pull this operation off, but only if we strike _now_.” Kolivan’s words are met with stunned silence.

“You’re lying.” Allura says. Trusting any Galra is still an uphill battle for the princess and no one can blame her. Even with Kolivan, whose worth has been proven time and time again, Allura’s first instinct is that his words are a trap. It’s just too good to be true.

“I understand your qualms, princess,” Kolivan replies. “But it is the truth. My spies report that Lotor has not assumed the title of emperor after Zarkon’s death.”

“Of course he couldn’t,” Allura murmurs, half in disgust, half in awe.

“Is the role of emperor not hereditary in Galra…society?” Hunk asks.

“Galrans only respect raw power,” Allura says coolly. “Zarkon was emperor because he fought and killed and destroyed himself and built his empire with his own two hands. People feared him. That is why he commanded the utmost respect and loyalty.”

“The princess is right,” Kolivan says. “Lotor has stood and watched for the past ten thousand years after the fall of Altea. His inaction makes him unfit to be emperor in the eyes of the other Galra. A number of his commanders are breaking free from the main fleet, seeking power for themselves. Lotor is still surrounded by those who were in Zarkon’s inner circle, but even they fight for the sake of the empire, not the prince. What remains of central command is full of chaos and discontent.”

“So this is the perfect time to strike!” Keith exclaims. “Hit Lotor before he can regroup, and destroy the heart of the empire once and for all!” The paladins raucously cheer, Pidge whooping her agreement.

“Exactly,” Kolivan affirms. “Now that you’ve met Kit and his rebels, the green paladin and her brother can help coordinate a joined assault on the what remains of Lotor’s dominion.” Kolivan spits. “Even Haggar knew he was a last resort. Lotor’s nothing now that Zarkon and the druid are dead.”

“I wouldn’t say he’s nothing.” Allura’s eyes are hard, her voice thick with a damp anger. “He’s an excellent fighter who kills for the fun of it. Yes, he may have stood idly, but now he’s backed into a corner. He will return to his tactics he used in the war against Altea and they will be vicious and relentless.” Allura clenches her hands into fists. “Lotor will not fight with a shred of honor. Do _not_ underestimate him.”

        The room doesn’t speak for a moment.

        “War is not fought with honor, your grace,” Kolivan finally replies, unsure of what else to say. Allura simply glares, angry tears beginning to leak from her eyes.

        “Lotor once infected an entire village with the Nyzas Plague because they were harboring refugees from Altea’s capital.” Allura says through clenched teeth. “Refugees I brought there, trying to save them from the destruction Zarkon was wreaking. As if he didn’t kill enough people in the city.” Allura involuntarily brings her hand over her mouth and begins sobbing. “They refused to tell him where I had gone. Even though I neither asked for nor deserved their loyalty.” She has to pause for a moment. “He let them all die,” she whispers. “Every adult and child. From an ill that a healing pod can easily fix.” She rubs the tears out of her eyes, digging viciously with her fists. “So that is what I mean when I say Lotor does not fight with honor,  _ commander _ . To dismiss him in any way makes you a fool.”

         Kolivan nods grimly. He knows Allura is right. He knows he can’t possibly understand the rawness of the princess’ grief and he knows that no amount of revenge or condolences can possibly erase the past. But he does know that working together is the first step.

       “Then I wonder if you would like to coordinate the assault on prince Lotor’s fleet yourself, Princess Allura,” Kolivan says. “Given all that’s happened, I feel that this is more your fight than ours.”

        Allura looks at the Galra commander hesitantly. Her outburst of grief has stripped away the princess’ hard and careful façade, exposing her youth and sadness.

_         For one so young to have been through so much _ , Kolivan thinks.

        “She’ll plan the attack.” Keith says, answering for Allura. “And the rest of us will help.”

         Allura shoots Keith a grateful smile and Keith gives a nod. 

_          We’ve come a long way _ , the princess decides.

         “What about Lotor himself?” Lance asks aloud, seemingly at random.

         “What about him?” Kolivan asks in turn, puzzled. 

         “You said Lotor might have absorbed some of Zarkon’s powers.” Lance says. “We know he’s alive, but have any of your spies actually seen Lotor? In the flesh?”

         “Of course.” Kolivan is almost offended by the question. “Thace, may he be remembered, wasn’t our only hidden operative in central command.”

         “And Lotor’s fine?” Lance asks. “He looks like a happy, healthy Galra?”

         Kolivan is now quite concerned about the mental state of the blue paladin.

         “Yes,” the Galra replies. “What of it?” Lance and Allura exchange a stricken look. They both vividly remember the damage Lotor’s body sustained during Haggar’s experiment.

         “When we last saw him on Haggar’s ship, the quintessence transfer had really messed his body up,” Lance explains. “If Lotor’s fully recovered…” he trails off. “That can’t mean anything good for us.”

          “I’ll see what else my operatives can uncover,” Kolivan says, understanding. Ideally, he’d like to start formally planning the attack. But upon looking at the princess, he can’t bring him to rehash the conversation. Sometimes, allowances can be made in war. “I’ll be in touch within a day when I have more information.” He finishes, “In the meantime, begin preparations for the fight on your end.” He looks directly at the red paladin as he says those words, but this time Keith is ready for responsibility.

         “We’ll get it done.” Keith nods. Kolivan regards them all with one final look before saluting and powering the communication off. The screen goes black, and the room breathes a collective sigh of relief. Mission briefings are always difficult, but this one was especially hard. Allura is still sniffling and Coran finds himself drawn to her side, almost unconsciously.

         “Are you alright, princess?” Coran puts an arm around her as she shakes her head.

         “I’m sorry,” Allura whispers. “I’ve just never talked about that. Not since it happened. I’ve just been so focused on defeating Zarkon I just…” Her voices trails off into despair. She needs no further explanation.

         “You shouldn’t feel bad for grieving, princess,” Shiro says, walking over to the two Alteans. “Obviously I don’t know all that you went through, but I know what it’s like to suffer at the hands of the Galra Empire.It’s a lot.” Shiro lets out a short laugh. “But if you don’t talk about it. If you don’t process it and try to work through things you end up stuck. Literally.” He muses on his time in the astral plane for a moment. “And sometimes you need all your friends to get you back out.” He looks around the room, smiling at all the other paladins. “Go. Take your time, Allura. Just know that we’re all here for you.”

        “I will try to return to full strength tomorrow, then.” Allura says gratefully.

        “It’s okay even if you don’t,” Shiro insists. He offers a small smile. “They can take care of themselves now, remember?”

        Allura smiles back at the repetition of her own words.

        "I will take my leave then, paladins,” Allura says. “Coran, please come with me.” The older Altean looks at her in surprise.

        “But princess…” his voice trails off as he meets Allura’s gaze.

        “They were your people too,” Allura says softly. Coran feels tears prick at his eyes. Of course he hasn’t had much chance to grieve either, but it had never crossed his mind. Allura had always been his number one priority, especially after they’d woken up post-cryosleep. Keeping the princess safe is more than just a duty at this point. It’s become a reflex, an instinct. But now Coran is forced to remember the old war, to remember night raids and rationing. To remember fighting and fleeing.

        To remember the exact moment when he was forced to leave King Alfor’s side.

        He doesn’t say anything but gives Allura a squeeze with his arm. Wordlessly, he escorts the princess from the room and as they leave, they feel true tears beginning to flow.

        “They may need us later,” Shiro says to the remaining group. “We should be ready to support them. They deserve that.”

        “It’s alright, Shiro,” Lance replies. “We understand. We’ve always got each other.”

         Shiro nods. He notices that Lance and Keith are holding hands and smiles at the clear comfort and tenderness between them. After everything he’s been through, it sometimes surprises Shiro how something as simple as love can keep people together. But he doesn’t doubt at all that the blue paladin is right.  _ We do always have each other,  _ he thinks as he looks around the room again at his friends.  _ And that’s something Lotor will never have _ .

…

         “I can’t believe this is it,” Lance says as he walks down the corridor with Keith. “Our final briefing.”

         True to her word, Allura had barely allowed herself a day of isolation before reconvening with Kolivan to hash out the details of the offensive on Lotor’s fleet. She hadn’t allowed anyone save Coran to enter the room while she talked things over with the Blade of Marmora and everyone else had settled into a mindless routine of eating, sleeping, and training with no spare moments in between.  

         But now Allura is ready to tell them the details of what is no doubt going to be their riskiest attack yet.

         “Yeah,” Keith replies. “It’s weird. It feels like everything that happened with Shiro going missing was a lifetime ago.”

         “How’s he doing by the way?” Lance asks. “I saw him working out with Matt on the training deck earlier.”

         “Still getting used to his bayard, I think.” Keith sighs. “I don’t know what we’re gonna do about forming Voltron for this attack.”

         This worry had also crossed Lance’s mind. Given their vulnerability in space, the team hadn’t practiced forming Voltron since Shiro’s return. That, combined with Shiro’s new bayard could pose a huge risk in battle. But Lance puts a brave smile on his face anyway.

         “Hey, look at me.” Lance smiles as Keith stops walking and meets his gaze. “We’ve still been doing all the team exercises, remember. And we’ve all improved so much as individual fighters. If anyone can form Voltron and stop Lotor, it’s us.”

         Keith nods. He brings his hand to Lance’s face and strokes the blue paladin’s cheek with his thumb.

         “How do you always know the right thing to say?” Keith asks.

         “I don’t,” Lance says, bringing his hand up so it rests on top of Keith’s. “I just try my best for you.”

         “Me too,” Keith breathes. “Okay, but no matter what Allura says, I’m not allowing any crazy plans like last time. No way, Lazer Brain.”

         “I can protect myself,” Lance huffs.

         “I’m sorry, how many times did you say Haggar threw you against a wall?” Keith asks archly. His face softens when Lance shrugs. “It’s not that I don’t trust you,” he says. “I just don’t want to take any risks. Especially now.”

         Lance gives Keith’s hand a squeeze.

         “I mean I know we’re on the verge of saving the universe and everything,” Keith continues. “But that means nothing without you.”

         “Ditto.” Lance smiles fondly at Keith and Keith smiles back before pulling his boyfriend down into a kiss. It’s short and sweet and soft and warm and it’s everything Lance needs. As they break apart, Lance decides that after the war, he’s going to have to dedicate a whole day to kissing Keith.

         “Let’s go,” Keith says, offering his arm to the blue paladin. Lance takes it happily, captivated by the dorkiness of his boyfriend.

         “Alright,” Lance replies. “Let’s see if we like Allura’s master plan.”

…

“Now I already know some of you won’t like this part of the plan,” Allura says. “But we don’t have much time before we attack. After talking with Kolivan, I feel like splitting up is for the best.”

        Keith clutches Lance’s arm a little tighter at the words ‘splitting up’, an unconscious action.

        “Matt…” Allura’s voice trails off. “I hate to ask this of you, given your recent reunion with Pidge and Shiro.” She sighs. “We need you to rejoin your rebel fleet.”

        “Of course,” Matt says, nodding stiffly. He’d expected the request, but that didn’t doesn’t mean he has to enjoy it.

        “Your father’s fleet has been called for this mission as well,” Allura continues. “Working together, your forces will lead a two pronged full on assault on Lotor’s auxiliary ships. The Blade of Marmora will take down Lotor’s defense systems from the inside. Once that’s down, they’ll help you destroy Lotor’s main command ships and round up his officers.”

        “What?” Only now is Pidge understanding the full weight of Allura’s words.  _ Matt’s leaving again _ , Pidge thinks.  _ With Dad. Just like Kerberos _ . And with that one word Pidge is across the room, placing herself between her brother and Allura. “No.” She declares, glaring at the princess. “I’m not letting you take him.”

        “I understand you want to keep your brother close,” Allura says. “I’m truly sorry Pidge, I am. But we need Matt’s fleet for this attack to be successful. So we need him to be back in command.”

        “No.” Pidge shakes her head. “I won’t let this happen. Not again.” She turns to her brother. “The last time you went flying off into space with dad, I thought you were dead for a year. Don’t do this to me.”

        “Katie—”

        “Don’t ‘Katie’ me!” Pidge snaps. “You didn’t have to take care of Mom when she could barely function after the garrison said you were ‘presumed dead.’ You didn’t see what Kerberos did to her.”  _ To me _ , are the unspoken words on Pidge’s lips.    

        “I wish there was another way,” Allura says sadly. The green paladin simply crosses her arms and looks stubbornly at the floor.

        “Hey,” Matt says softly. He approaches his sister carefully, as if interacting with a cornered animal. “Pidge.”

         Her head involuntarily whips around. It’s the first time Matt has called her Pidge since he’s been back.

        “This isn’t the same as last time. I’m gonna come back. I promise.” Matt cautiously puts a hand on her shoulder. “I don’t wanna leave you behind again either.”

         Pidge looks at him in surprise.

        “And I still don’t love the idea of you as the green paladin,” Matt admits. “You’re my little sister. You shouldn’t have to be out there, risking your life for the fate of the universe.” Matt exhales. “But I’m proud of you.”

        “You are?” Pidge can’t help but smile.

        “Yeah,” Matt says. “I’m so proud of you and everything you’ve accomplished. And I trust that you’ll come back from this mission. Because I believe in all that you can do.” He squeezes his sister’s shoulder. “I’m just asking you to do the same for me.”

        Pidge eventually nods. “Okay. I trust you.” Matt grins and brings his sister into a hug before scooping her up in his arms. Pidge can’t help but feel like she’s five years old and that Matt’s about to tell her a story before tucking her into bed. She savors that feeling, because she doesn’t know how long it will last.

        “Alright,” Allura finally says, sensing it’s okay for her to move on. “Now for our part of the attack.”

        Everybody re-focuses, ready for the important information they’re about to hear.

         “Lotor will want a direct confrontation with Lance and myself.” There’s no hesitation in Allura’s voice. “Lotor’s greatest flaw is his pride. It’s the only thing about him that hasn’t changed and it’s the only way I’ve seen him lose a fight.” She gestures at the blue paladin. “Lance killed Haggar. I killed his father. And we both nearly killed him. Without someone like the druid to hold him back, he’ll be out for blood.”

         “So we just pummel him with Voltron?” Keith’s suggestion actually isn’t that far off, which annoys Allura more than she’d like to admit.

         “It’s not quite that simple,” the princess says. “Lotor’s fighting skills are uncanny and we have no idea what powers he’s acquired from Haggar’s experiment. We have to draw him out into the open and pick where our battle ground is.” Allura clenches her hand into a fist. “We fight only where we know we have the advantage. After the initial attacks by the Blade and the rebels, Lotor will come to find us. And then we will meet him with the full force of Voltron and the Castle of Lions.”

         “So what do we do until Lotor shows himself?” Lance asks. “Help out with the main attack?”

         “Yes, but only on the outskirts.” Allura replies. “We need to get his attention, but we can’t risk getting boxed into a corner. We’ll only engage more closely when we know for sure Lotor is in the thick of the fighting.”

         “I’d rather help the others,” Lance admits. “But I get it. We can’t risk losing Voltron.”

         “Precisely,” Allura says. “Matt?”

         “Yes, princess?”

         “I’m afraid Kolivan wants you right away.” Allura pretends she doesn’t see the sad surprise in Matt’s eyes. “You’ll need to formulate specific plans with your own fighters and get back to your own base.” Allura looks down. “I’d wormhole you there myself, but we’d risk exposing both the location of the castle and of the rebels.”

          Matt nods his understanding. “I’ll get to it then.” He puts his sister back on the ground and gazes at her sadly. He doesn’t want to say goodbye because goodbye implies some kind of finality, some kind of point beyond return. That’s not what he wants.

         “I’ll miss you,” Pidge whispers, her eyes watering. She hugs her brother fiercely and Matt hugs her back, not wanting to let go.

         “I’ll miss you too.” He kisses the top of her head before forcing himself to break the embrace.

         Matt then has to say his goodbyes to the rest of the room. While he’s only been there for a short amount of time, they’ve all made him feel like a part of team Voltron, and he’s grateful for it. He exchanges bro hugs with Lance and Hunk, ruffles Keith’s hair, and shakes Coran’s hand.

         Then he gets to Shiro.

         “Good luck out there,” Shiro says quietly. “Don’t get too crazy.”

         “Don’t worry,” Matt replies. “I won’t stop to look at any ice samples.”

          They both laugh at that, in spite of themselves.

          “Goodbye, Shiro.” Matt hesitates before he turns around, marching himself out the door and towards the castle hangar. 

          There’s a million other things Shiro wishes he said. He’s almost tempted to reach out, to cry ‘wait!’ To tell Matt the truth of his feelings before he might march into battle for the last time. But he doesn’t. He just stares at the empty space before him.

       “Paladins!” Allura says, breaking the silence. “I just wanted to say one more thing.” Everyone turns towards the princess sluggishly, expecting to hear more battle logistics. “I’m so proud of all of you.” Allura beams at them. “I’ll admit, I wasn’t sure about you all being the new paladins when I first met you.”

        They all give her scandalized looks.

        “But since then, you’ve exceeded my expectations,” Allura continues. “This wasn’t your fight. By all rights, it shouldn’t be your fight. But you’ve risen to the challenge. You’ve faced the Galra time and time again and each time you’ve proven your worth. No matter what happens tomorrow, I’d like you to know that I’m proud to have fought beside you.” Allura blinks away tears. “You all have the hearts of true Altean warriors.” Her gaze flicks to the blue paladin. “That’s another thing. Lance?” She beckons for him to come forward.

        “Yeah?” He disentangles his hand from Keith’s before walking over to the princess.

“I want you to promise me something,” Allura urges. “If anything goes wro—”

“Nothing will go wrong tomorrow,” Lance declares. “Don’t talk like that.”

“You never know,” Allura counters. “So you need to promise me. If anything happens to myself or Coran that you keep Altea’s spirit alive.”

Lance has to swallow hard before nodding.

“If you have Altean blood, then surely others like yourself exist on Earth, and perhaps other planets and galaxies too!” Allura grips the front of Lance’s shirt tightly. “Promise me that you’ll find them! That you’ll bring them here and tell them about us, about Voltron.” Allura’s eyes mist over. “Perhaps you’ll even find some that know of Altea as it once was.”

“I won’t fail you,” Lance assures her. “Or you, Coran,” he adds, looking at the older Altean. “That’s what family’s for, right?”

It takes less than two seconds before both Allura and Coran are hugging him tightly, tears leaking out of their eyes. And then everyone joins in, Hunk, Pidge, Keith, and Shiro piling on until they’re all hugging and crying and holding each other, wanting to put off the future.

…

“It’s go time,” Shiro announces as he observes the battlefield from the control room. The combined rebel and Blade of Marmora attack has started off with a bang, a whole row of ships already decimated. Lotor definitely knows they’re here. It’s only a matter of time before he comes after them directly. “Let’s get to our lions!”

As everyone makes their last minute preparations for the battle ahead, Lance finds himself drawn towards Keith. He makes his way over to the red paladin and they spend a moment in silence, just looking at each other.

“Hey.” Keith’s voice is soft, his eyes tender.

“Hi,” Lance whispers back. “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” Keith admits. He reaches out to cup Lance’s cheek. “I know we have to give it our all, but still. Promise me you’ll be careful.”

“You too.” Lance smiles. “You’re not dying on me either. There’s still so much we have to do on earth, remember?” Keith smiles and nods as he remembers their earlier conversation.

“Yeah.” Keith pulls Lance into a fierce hug, his arms wound tightly around the blue paladin. He gives himself a moment before drawing out of the embrace to give Lance a kiss on the cheek.

“What, I don’t get a proper good luck kiss?” Lance asks jokingly.

“No,” Keith says. “You’ll get that when we all come back.”

        Lance nods his understanding. It’s Keith’s own promise to him, the promise that they’ll survive this battle.

        “I’ll have something to look forward to then,” Lance says. He gives his boyfriend one last warm look before they part ways, going to their individual lions. They’ll be together again soon as Voltron, but Lance still feels a keen sense of yearning as he boards his lion, another sign of how much the red paladin has come to matter to him. Lance forces himself to put his feelings aside for a moment as he launches the blue lion into space, careening into the fight. They still have to win the war, after all, and Lance won’t allow himself to be distracted for a moment.

        Even if it’s by something as wonderful as Keith.

…

 

       “Woo hoo!” Pidge shouts as she blasts through another group of Galra fighters. “Take that, Lotor!”

       “Pidge, talk louder,” Hunk says. “We absolutely can’t hear you.” Pidge blows a raspberry at Hunk in the video feed.

       “What I don’t get is why Lotor’s still not attacking us,” Lance says as he shoots several beams of ice at an incoming Galra Cruiser. “We’re tearing his fleet apart.”

       “Easy for you to say,” Allura grumbles down the comms. The Galra seem to be targeting the castle especially this time around, concentrating multiple firing beams and fighter squads on the ship. Allura can’t help the fear that creeps into her throat of the particle barrier potentially failing. Again.

       “Are you sure you don’t need any back up?” Hunk offers. “We could get some of the rebel fighters to cover you. Or we cou—”

       “Don’t worry, Hunk,” Coran says. “Just keep your eyes peeled for Lotor. I’m sure he’ll show his face soon.” In that moment Coran’s doesn’t know who he’s reassuring more. Hunk, or himself. This certainly isn’t the worst situation they’ve been in, but given the stakes, he and the princess are wary of any possibility of failure.

        “Uh guys?” Lance’s tone is anything but comforting. “What’s that…thing heading towards the rebel fleet?” They all look over and see what appears to be a large, wispy purple cloud, heading for the thick of the fighting.

        “We should go check it out,” Keith says. “It could be a new weapon of Lotor’s.” Shiro is about to voice his agreement when a new, crackly voice comes on the comms line.

        “Paladins, princess,” Kolivan says. “Help us! Our ships, we’re…” The Galra’s voice fades to static. “Lotor! He’s here! He can…” More static. Then silence.

        “We’re on our way,” Allura declares, even though the Galra commander likely can’t hear her. She turns on the castle’s turbo thrusters and goes rushing into the fray, hitting more than a few Galra ships in process as she and Coran speed towards unknown danger.

        “Well?” Pidge asks. “Aren’t we going to go help them?”

        “Kolivan mentioned Lotor,” Lance says. “I think we might need a little extra boost.”

“Lance is right,” Shiro affirms. “It’s high time we formed Voltron and started this fight for real.”

“Yeah!” They all shout loudly. They then close their eyes, flying in formation, feeling the tendrils of their bond drawing their lions closer and closer together and then

 

nothing happens.

 

“What?” Keith asks incredulously.

“Oh not this again.” Lance groans, having intense flashbacks to their first ever Voltron showdown with the Galra.

        “Guys calm down!” Shiro exclaims. He fights against the overwhelming sense of guilt that surges in his chest because he knows the other paladins will feel it too.

_          Even if it is my fault, all we can do is try again _ , Shiro decides philosophically. He forces himself to believe his own words, using them like a mantra.  _ A mantra _ ? Now that gives Shiro an idea.

       “We’ve done this hundreds of times before.” Shiro says. “There’s no need to panic.” He looks pointedly at Hunk in the video feed. “Just take some deep breaths.”

       However skeptically, they all follow his instructions, and Shiro can’t help but be relieved.

       “Alright,” he continues. “I want you all to repeat after me. Patience yields focus.”

       Lance and Keith can’t help but smile when they hear the words and Shiro allows himself a small smile as well.

       “Alright, say it out loud.”

       “Patience yields focus,” they all chorus.

       “Good,” Shiro says, feeling kind of like a yoga instructor. “Now repeat it in your heads. Breathe deeply and allow your minds to clear.” He waits for a few inhales and exhales. “Now, let’s try that again. We’ll get it this time! I promise.” Those last words are a bit of faith on Shiro’s part, but he believes in these guys. They’ve surprised him enough before.

       They all start flying in formation again, trying to think only about the bonds they have with their teammates, their friends. The ones they love. They breathe. They relax. They repeat ‘ _ patience yields focus’ _ under their breath. They wait. And soon enough the familiar buzz rushes through the lions as they begin to assemble. As the others cheer, Shiro can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. And then Voltron is flying along, for the first time in a long time, ready to take on Lotor, and whatever the mysterious purple cloud may be.

…

“It’s Lotor,” Lance says in horror. “I’d recognize that face anywhere.” Voltron is still for a moment as they take in the scene. The purple cloud terrorizing the rebel and Blade fleets is none other than the Galra prince himself, larger than life and simply radiating dark quintessence as his new giant form floats through space, wreaking havoc. Everything is purple now, his eyes no longer a glittering yellow, his hair no longer pearly white. It’s all a wispy nothingness, like a half-baked quintessence body. But there’s no mistaking Lotor’s power, especially as he lashes out with his fist, destroying a Blade of Marmora cruiser as if it were nothing.  

        “How is he that big?!” Pidge exclaims. “He’s almost as big as Voltron!”

        “I’m guessing that’s one of the powers Zarkon’s quintessence gave him,” Hunk says. “Lucky us.”

        “We’ll figure that out later,” Shiro insists. “Right now, we have to get him away from those ships. Lance, can you get his attention?”

        “Say no more!” Lance fires the blue lion’s laser enthusiastically, striking Lotor right in the side.

        The prince immediately turns around, and cracks a wicked smile as he sees Voltron. He opens his mouth as if to bare his teeth but his lips reveal nothing, only a void of space between his jaws. The purple figure extends its arm, summoning a shadowy sword. Lance immediately recognizes it as the same magic Haggar used in their fight, and a shiver that goes up his spine.

         “Pidge!” Lance yells. “Shield!” The green paladin reacts just in time and manages to block a vicious uppercut from the prince. “Keith!”

         The red paladin doesn’t need to hear any more words. He plunges his bayard into its port, activating Voltron’s sword. Keith grins as the sword forms and immediately starts using it to swing at Lotor, blinding the prince with a flurry of fast attacks. The prince isn’t caught off guard for long. He dances out of the way and tries to swing at Voltron’s exposed side. Keith barely blocks Lotor’s cut and uses the leverage of his sword to push Lotor back, which appears to work. Keith urges Voltron forward sword first, ready to thrust at Lotor.

_          We need to disorient him _ , Keith thinks,  _ it’s the only way _ . It almost looks like he’s going to land a hit when Lotor begins to raise his non-sword hand. And it begins to crackle with growing ball of black lightning. Lance feels the blood drain from his face.

         “Duck!” Lance forces Voltron’s leg to give out, making them free fall out of the way of Lotor’s blast. He rights Voltron as soon as it’s safe, but everyone is clearly shaken.

         “That’s not fair!” Hunk cries. “He’s big  _ and  _ has two magical weapons? No offense Keith, but we can’t just keep going at him with a sword.”

         “Duly noted.” Keith says dryly. “So what now?” Another blast comes and Lance has to quickly drag them out of the way again.

_          That was too close _ , Shiro thinks,  _ we’ve got to do something _ . He looks down at his bayard, looks cautiously at the bayard port in the black lion’s cockpit, then back at his bayard.

         “Maybe we need to fight fire with fire.” Shiro says. “I want you all to activate your lions’ bayard weapons. Now!”

         “We’ve never done them all at once before.” Pidge remarks.

         “First time for everything.” Shiro replies. Only a few days ago, he’d never even used his Bayard before. Now look at him. He plunges his bayard into the port, feeling a zing of power as he twists it into place. The black lion lights up in a way he’s never seen before and soon so does all of Voltron as the other paladins follow his lead. There’s a flurry of light and transformation as Voltron accommodates all the power that’s being put into it, becoming something even greater.

         And what emerges is a Voltron they’ve never seen before.

         The body of the robot hasn’t changed, but the weapons are new and astounding. Pidge’s shield is larger and is now weaponized, with electric shock points at each corner and tendrils of vines creeping out of the center, ready to strike. Hunk’s shoulder cannon now has a twin on Voltron’s other shoulder and both are bigger and sturdier, with more firepower than he’d thought possible. But most interesting of all is Voltron’s hand held weapon. Upon first glance it looks like Shiro’s war staff, a long metal cylinder with wing-like razor sharp tips. But upon closer inspection the staff has two more mechanisms. A core of fire burns in one of the tips, ready to blast anyone into oblivion. The other tip holds a core of ice, ready to freeze and destroy. Seemingly at odds with itself, the weapon holds a strange balance, one that could in the end, give it the advantage. Voltron gives it an experimental spin.

        “Alright!” Shiro exclaims. “Let’s do this!” He feels a new sense of hope in his chest as Voltron rushes forward, and for once, Shiro can maybe see the end in sight. He refuses to believe otherwise. Voltron swings the staff hard, searing Lotor’s head with the fiery end while Pidge’s shield rams into his chest, electrocuting him. Shiro can’t help but smile as his friends cheer.  _ Perhaps there won’t be anything else _ , Shiro thinks,  _ maybe we’re in the home straight after all _ . The black paladin refuses to think about any more potential obstacles and focuses on continuing to give Lotor a beating. Soon the universe will be a little bit safer. That’s all Shiro needs to know.  

        Lotor eventually throws off Voltron and flies away to regroup. He’s moving a little more slowly, perhaps, but his body otherwise appears unaffected. Before he can attack them again, Hunk fires at him with both of the shoulder cannons simultaneously, pounding Lotor with the twin beams of light. Lotor appears disoriented, and Voltron rushes forward, seizing the opportunity to strike with it’s staff. Lotor ducks out of the way, and tries to take the weapon for himself. Lance responds with a blast of ice from Voltron’s staff that makes the prince snarl in frustration. Lotor summons his magic and fires at Voltron before anyone can react, frying Voltron. Angry and in pain, Pidge swings at him with the shield, which sends Lotor floating off. They all stop and breathe for a moment, taking in the respite while they have it.

 

        It doesn’t last long. 

 

        “Paladins, I have some bad news.” Coran’s voice is so solemn that Voltron freezes for a moment, even as Lotor recovers from the well-aimed blow. The exhausted paladins don’t know if they can handle Coran’s news. “We’re going to have to turn the castle’s communications off,” the older Altean says.

        “What?” Lance shouts in disbelief. “Are you crazy? How are you gonna talk with the rebels? Or us? That’s suicide!”

        “So is having the castle be defenseless,” Allura says. “We’re sustaining so many hits that the particle barrier is failing.”

        “It’s always failing,” Keith mutters.

        “We need to direct all non-essential power to the defensive and offensive systems,” Allura finishes. “Otherwise, we couldn’t continue to help you in the battle for much longer. We’d be on our last legs sooner than we’d like.” She sees Shiro open his mouth to protest. “Retreat is not option,” she adds, to the black paladin’s frustration.

        “Just go!” Hunk exclaims. He fires Voltron’s shoulder canon, sending a series of blasts at Lotor. “We’ll be okay!”

         Allura smiles sadly. The paladins have come to mean so much to her, more than she could have ever imagined. The last thing she wants to think is that she’s saying good bye.

        “I’m sure you will,” she says, fighting back tears. “Good luck.” Then the line goes dead, the video feed going dark. But Voltron doesn’t have a second to mourn before Lotor is lunging forward with his sword, and they have to defend themselves once more. As they fight, Lance remembers his promise, the one he made Allura about finding all the other Alteans. All Lance can do now is hope that he never has to keep it. 

Lance’s worry only grows, however, when Matt makes a startling series of commands to his fleet over the comms.

        “Fall back!” Matt yells. “Fall back! Assume defensive formation!”

        Shiro’s emotions take over he quickly snaps his head back to look at the rebel fleet. A number of flaming ships only hint at the possible casualties, and it’s easy to see that they’re just barely hanging on. He immediately feels a pang of guilt that they hadn’t done more to help the rebels.

        “Matt, do you need back up?” Pidge asks. In the same breath she brings up Voltron’s shield to deflect a blast from Lotor.

        “Focus on killing him, Katie.” Matt’s voice comes through gritted teeth. “We’ll be fine.”

         Pidge wants to do nothing more than to run to her brother’s aid. She can’t lose him. Not again. But she won’t abandon Voltron now. She knows what’s at stake.

         Shiro experiences a similar swirl of emotions but quickly forces it down. He’s spent so much time in his own head for the past few months, even in this battle. He has to take action.  _ I am the ‘decisive head’, after all,  _ he thinks ruefully. He’ll get his troops to fight. He’ll help them defeat Lotor.

         “Listen up!” Shiro says. He does what he can to re-take control of Voltron’s body, and brings their winged staff into an upright and battle ready position. “I know it looks bad, but we can’t give up. Not now!” On the video feed all the other paladins look down dejectedly. Through their emotional connection, Shiro feels something pass between the blue lion and the red lion. Perhaps it’s a goodbye.

         “We’re trying our best, Shiro,” Lance murmurs. “It’s just not wo—” Lance’s words are cut off as Lotor suddenly rushes at them and Voltron has to leap back to avoid the strike. The abrupt movement throws Shiro forward violently and the black paladin hits his face on the dashboard of the black lion.

         “Shiro!” Keith cries. “Are you okay?” As the video feed readjusts, they can all clearly see a gash on the black paladin’s forehead, already starting to ooze red.

         “I’m fine,” Shiro says gruffly. “We just need to refocus.”

         “This is it,” Hunk says. “This could be the end.”

         “Not helping, Hunk!” Pidge snaps. Her nerves are bad enough with Matt and Sam in danger again; no one needs to make them any worse.

         “Guys!” Shiro shouts, effectively silencing them all. He puts on his bravest face, even as blood pours from his cut. “Come on, gang! We’ve all got fire in our hearts. We aren’t the old paladins of Voltron! We’re better than them. Stronger than them.”

          All of the paladins nod at that. In spite of everything, they’ve grown beyond measure. They’ve fought beyond measure. They know what they have to do.

          “We’ve worked so hard and accomplished so much to turn back now,” Shiro continues. “Come on! One last try to defeat the Galra! To defend the Universe!”

           All of the paladins raise their voices in a battle cry and Shiro smiles, knowing that they’re with him. And with that Voltron raises its staff and plunges forward one last time, ready for all that may come after.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah. This is the ending. I honestly could have written more with this universe, but this is the story I sought out to tell. I already knew this was how I wanted this fic to end, even when I just started writing. Maybe I’ll write more stories in this canon-compliant universe, or maybe that’s all for Keith, Lance and the others in this timeline. The last thing left is the epilogue which is purely self indulgent, but I hope y'all enjoy it nonetheless. Thanks so much to everyone who read and commented along the way, my amazing betas who read tirelessly and weren’t afraid to call out my bs, and all my friends who encouraged me to keep going. Without all of you, this story wouldn’t have been written. <3


	11. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Do you believe in endings?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;)

       “You did a great job today, Keith,” Shiro says as they all stroll out the doors of the council room and down the corridor. “It seems like negotiations with the Galra population of the Melclevian systems are going great.” They’ve all just come out of a long meeting with various members of the Voltron Alliance, and everyone is happy to finally be done. Sometimes, they almost prefer when they were all fighting to the long winded diplomacy that seems to consume their days. 

“That’s my _amazing_ boyfriend for you.” Lance presses a kiss to Keith’s cheek before grabbing Keith’s hand, lacing their fingers together.

“You guys are never leaving the honeymoon stage, are you?” Hunk asks. He smiles as they both shake their heads dramatically. Even in the horrific aftermath of their battle with Lotor, Keith and Lance had maintained this insanely positive, loving energy that they shared with everyone in the team and each other. It’s amazing that they’re still doing it, all these years later. 

        All the same, Shiro can’t help but feel one-uped, and quickly snakes an arm around Matt’s shoulders. Matt can’t help but roll his eyes, despite the huge grin on his face.

“We can’t ignore our internal tensions, however,” Allura comments. “Don’t you think, Lance?”

“You mean the coalition?” Lance sighs. After the empire had fallen, he, Allura, and Coran had taken it upon themselves to find any surviving Altean descendants, to try and re-establish the Altean civilization and to have a larger contingent in the Voltron alliance. There are some descendants Lance’s age, like Phylax and Lyia, who eagerly embrace the new intergalactic union that is the Voltron alliance. But many of the more elderly descendants, those who were still raised with the old traditions and customs, are far more hostile towards working with the Galra. And despite years of work, relocation of Galra civilians is still a difficult subject.

“We shouldn’t stress, but we should bear it in mind going forward,” Allura says. “They may just need more time.”

“Do you think that’ll really work?” Lance asks. “I’m just not sure how to get some of the older Alteans to see eye to eye with us,” he admits, “but I don’t think reparations are the answer, Allura.”

“I agree,” the princess says sagely. “But I think that’s enough council business for one day.” Allura thinks for a moment on how to ease the blue paladin’s mind. Pidge looks at Allura just as the princess thinks a devious thought, and light bulbs flicker above their heads at the same time.  

“Allura,” Pidge says brightly. “weren’t you telling me the other day how in old Altea, many alliances were solidified through marriages? And that many wars and, uh, _tensions_ were taken care of this way?”

“What?” Lance asks, his throat suddenly very dry.

“Indeed, Pidge,” Allura replies cheerily. “For a delicate situation, such as this, the logical solution would be a marriage.” She taps her chin, as if thinking. “Say, a union between say a young Galran prince and prominent Altean diplomat, perhaps?”

Keith feels his cheeks go pink. It’s not like he and Lance have ever talked about marriage. It’s only been seven years after the Galran empire was finally destroyed. They’re still young. They’re still not done restoring order to the universe! The meeting today is proof enough that the world around them is still a work in progress. Every day they’re rebuilding the cosmos brick by brick, and it’s certainly a struggle to behold.

        At the same time, there’s no doubt in Keith’s mind that Lance is it for him, marriage or not. There’s a lot of things that make Keith certain of this, but one stands out to him in particular. 

        On one of their earth visiting days, everyone had gone home to their families. Lance had offered to introduce Keith to his, since Shiro was going to visit the Holts. Keith had felt this indescribable warmth and love at being included in something so intimate. He knew how important Lance’s family was to the blue paladin. When Lance introduced Keith to his moms and all of his siblings and cousins, Keith really felt like part of a larger whole. He felt like they were accepting him into part of their family with a love so strong that Keith couldn’t fathom. It was like he was coming home for the first time, to a home he didn’t even realize existed. 

 

        And that feeling of home hasn’t left Keith, not even after their journey back to New Altea. He didn’t understand why at first. But the answer was obvious, as it often tends to be.  

        It’s because he was with still Lance.  

        And Keith never intends to let that feeling go, now that’s he’s got it. 

 

         Pidge misunderstands their mutual silence and begins cackling, nearly doubling over with delight.

“Your faces!” Pidge cries, unable to stop laughing. “Did you think we were being serious?” Keith’s cheeks go pink, even though he’s more embarrassed for the sake of being embarrassed.

“Not yet, anyway,” Lance says, leaning over to give Keith a quick kiss on the lips. Pidge makes a loud ‘ooooooooooohhhhhhhhh’ as Keith’s cheeks go from pink to the color of his lion. The others join in whooping and laughter, even Shiro, who would still rather Keith be his best-man before he has to return the favor. 

They’ve all still got a long way to go. The garrison hasn’t been burned to the ground yet, much to Pidge and Keith’s chagrin. Rogue Galra groups still exist. The Voltron Alliance is still far from complete. The universe in general still isn’t quite as it was. 

But they’re alright.

 

And they’re together.

 

Lance squeezes Keith’s hand. 

 

_         And this right here _ , he thinks,  _ is all that matters. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you guys enjoyed that fic. That's the longest fic I've written /ever/ so I'm pretty amazed that it's finally done. Thank you to everyone who's stayed on this crazy train with me <3

**Author's Note:**

> come hang out with me on tumblr @polaroidpidge


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